Taste of Dreams: An Obsession with Russia and Caviar

Hardcover
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Author: Vanora Bennett

ISBN-10: 1437968120

ISBN-13: 9781437968125

Category: Caviar

The Taste of Dreams is both a quest for the romantic Russia of the author’s dreams, and a tale of amazement as she discovers and gets caught up in the new, anarchic Russia emerging from its Soviet constraints. At its heart is the story of caviar—beluga, the rarest type of sturgeon, harvested from the Caspian Sea. It is now an endangered species, and no one knows how to—or wants to—stop the plunder. Intelligent, funny, and enormously engaging, this is a modern tour through the...

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The Taste of Dreams is both a quest for the romantic Russia of the author's dreams, and a tale of amazement as she discovers and gets caught up in the new, anarchic Russia emerging from its Soviet constraints. At its heart is the story of caviar: beluga, the rarest type of sturgeon, harvested from the Caspian Sea. It is now an endangered species, and no one knows how—or wants—to stop the plunder. People kill for it. Library Journal London Times correspondent Bennett (Crying Wolf) has a foreigner's knack for catching Russia's contradictions. From the cramped living conditions in a land so vast to the gourmand attitude in a country of rations and long lines, she knows the tension among the government, the land, and the people, and how all three shape one another. Part memoir and part travelog, this book captures a lot about Russia, not least the sense that there is always something vaguely menacing just beyond view: the low-level radiation in vegetables, a burst of random gunfire in the distance, a sudden governmental decision to devalue the ruble, the disappearance of friends. Russia is a hard place to explain to people who haven't been there, but Bennett gets the feel of it right. Recommended for both public and academic libraries of all sizes. Travis McDade, Ohio State Univ. Law Lib., Columbus Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

1.Dreams12.Three Tastes93.What Eating Caviar Feels Like374.No More Caviar for the Masses535.The Caviar Thieves716.In the Dollar Bubble817.South Down the River of Azart1138.The Caspian, Where Sturgeon Come From1219.A Coup on the Caviar Coast14710.How Fish Die17711.Getting Away21512.A Different Kind of Egg22913.Farewell to Dagestan25914.Home275

\ Library JournalLondon Times correspondent Bennett (Crying Wolf) has a foreigner's knack for catching Russia's contradictions. From the cramped living conditions in a land so vast to the gourmand attitude in a country of rations and long lines, she knows the tension among the government, the land, and the people, and how all three shape one another. Part memoir and part travelog, this book captures a lot about Russia, not least the sense that there is always something vaguely menacing just beyond view: the low-level radiation in vegetables, a burst of random gunfire in the distance, a sudden governmental decision to devalue the ruble, the disappearance of friends. Russia is a hard place to explain to people who haven't been there, but Bennett gets the feel of it right. Recommended for both public and academic libraries of all sizes. Travis McDade, Ohio State Univ. Law Lib., Columbus Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \