I Was a Potato Oligarch
Travels and Travails in the New Russia
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
In a charming saga of sun, sea, sand - and cement - John Mole tells of the back-breaking but joyous labours of fixing up his own Arcadia and introduces a warm, generous and garrulous cast of characters who helped (and occasionally hindered) his progress.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this funny travel memoir, entrepreneur Mole (It's All Greek to Me!) recounts his adventures as an "international development consultant" in post-Soviet Russia. Ever chasing the next "Big One," Mole finds himself hawking a stuffed baked potato fast food franchising scheme in the midst of an economic meltdown. Along with Russian pals Misha and Oleg, Mole learns that finding a decent potato in Russia is nearly as hard as securing financing there. Mole drinks, bluffs and bribes his way across missile bases, spud farms, and the business lecture circuit. While often witty, Mole, it becomes apparent, does sympathize with the various average Russians he meets struggling to make a living: one older woman from Yekaterinburg trying to sell a single possession-a left shoe; a biochemist dedicates his life "to one little bug" while working on a "couple of wooden tables, a few test tubes and other bits and pieces out of a decent chemistry set."
