Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.6 / 5.0

helpful:

In less than two months I will be going to Uzbekistan as a Peace Corps volunteer. To read something like this book--slanted, intelligent, informative--is tremendously comforting. For instance, I now know how many bottles of peptol bismol to bring along with me, and that no, you don't really want say 'hello' to a police offier when you pass them on the street of Tashkent.

Bissell is not trying to give you a travel guide or a history of Uzbekistan, though in parts he touches down in these areas. He writes... more info

Lowdown and Highdown:

What the holy moly is it with this book? A bunch of one-stars, and bunch of five-stars, and not much in between. I have a theory (I just read it). Here's that theory: This is a book that takes its time to do what it does, and it doesn't care to obey the accepted rules of nonfiction. I think Mr. Bissell, the author, very self-consciously tried to write a piece of Literature. I also think he cares more about the writing than the politics or journalysis. And you are either down with that or you're not. You... more info

Great overview of Uzbekistan and the Aral Sea's demise:

_Chasing the Sea_ is one of the finer travel books I have read in some time. Author Tom Bissell set out originally to cover the tragic disappearance of the Aral Sea, a once large inland body of water shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan that has been slowly choked to death since the 19th century by diversion of the water to grow cotton. Through the course of the book though he not only covers the Aral Sea but also relates his previous personal experiences with Uzbekistan - he served for a time as a Peace... more info

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