SIBERIA BOUND: Chasing the American Dream on Russia's Wild Frontier

In 1991, Blakely joined a legion of young American college graduates flocking to Russia in search of adventure and money. What sets him apart from his many expat peers who have written about their entrepreneurial escapades is a natural gift for storytelling and a rare ability to translate the specificities of a foreign culture. With a degree in economics and a crush on a Siberian pen pal named Katya to guide him, Blakely chooses Novosibirsk as his base for sharing his vision of capitalism with the Russian masses. The frozen university town is no more primitive than the political and cultural capitals of Moscow and St. Petersburg when it comes to crafting a business plan or setting up a joint venture. Nor, it turns out, are there any fewer willing participants to undertake the unknown. Soon Blakely finds himself at the head of a large chocolate as well as latex glove concern, in which profits and supplies tumble around as randomly as the balls of a lottery draw. Blakely eventually realizes that the "pursuits of happiness" are fruitless when you don't count costs. Looking around at the unhappiness and unhealthiness that besets his colleagues, he notes, "We, the lucky few who had prospered during the economic chaos, had paid too high a price for the success." That is the somber truth for many who ventured into the speculative wilderness of Russian-style capitalism, but doesn't ring true for Blakely, who returned with wonderful memories, a soul mate for a wife and an admirable first book. (July)