Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Exile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia by Mark Ames, Matt Taibbi, Edward Limonov ISBN: 0802136524 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.52
Rating: 5
Summary: Mark/Matt: difference of styles
Comment: Although I agree with one of the reviewers here in that Taibbi and Ames differ in the style of writing, I don't think that Ames's writing is in any way inferior to Taibbi's.
Taibbi tends to cover more "serious" topics in the book - things like corruption, crime and the hypocrisy of the governments involved in many "economic assistance programs" of the 1990's, while Ames gives us a more "personal" take on the whole thing, focusing more on the storyline (the creation of eXile), as well as "sex and drugs" promised in the title. Ames's style in this book is somewhat close to Edward Limonov's "It's Me Eddie" and, for the right reader, will definitely be a more entertaining and personal read. I found myself laughing more while reading Mark's chapters.
Since both of these "perspectives" are packaged in the same volume, you'll know pretty much everything you need to know about modern Russia after reading it.
Rating: 2
Summary: Taibbi = interesting, Ames = boring
Comment: I don't know how appropriate it is to judge this book as a whole when the authors have decided to each write about half the chapters and both have wildly divergent styles. Taibbi is a fairly polished journalist and his chapters focus on Russian life and scandal that has been ignored by the mainstream press. His writing is focused and funny and - after reading the chapter titled "hacks" - I doubt I will ever be able to unquestioningly read another Russian news story written by a Western journalist. For his chapters, it seems Ames has decided to rewrite and repackage his journal entries and makes the common mistake believing his life is interesting for his readers. Thus we get to hear all about his scabies, the girls he's slept with, the speed he does, his fights with his stepfather over wanting to borrow the car (for all his attempts to distance himself from all things American he sounds remarkably like a typical suburban teenager - the kind who dresses in black and sits inside writing bad poetry all day), it's all unforgivably boring. Some of his Exile columns have been reprinted in this book, but after a while they became so redundant that I stopped reading them. Ames claims his chapters were written while he was on speed - it's obvious. He rambles, repeats himself and writes with all the continuity of, well, someone on speed. Perhaps his other Exile columns are more interesting, but for someone approaching 40, you'd think he'd be a little more polished. Ultimately, as Taibbi himself points out, the appeal of the Exile is its mix of serious journalism/criticism and it's stubborn refusal to censor itself, but for a full length book there probably should have been more thought put into it. Final rating: Ames written chapters = *; Taibbi written chapters = ****.
Rating: 5
Summary: Schmoozing with the Enemy
Comment: As a former Moscow resident, I was in many a run-in with authors Ames and Taibbi, and not always on friendliest of terms. Indeed, no small amount of the titular libel in "the eXile: Sex, Drugs, and Libel in the New Russia," their tell-all book about the decadent glory days of mid-90s Moscow, is directed toward yours truly and the boys' longstanding feud with myself -- so it seems they're still earning points at my expense! Even if most of what they say about me is exagerated, if not falsehood, I hold no grudges. For in spite of all their showy spleen and venting of frivolous personal vendettas, Ames and Taibbi can't help but write about the Moscow they love with a warmth and glow that is unmatched anywhere. From the get-rich-quick schemes, to the shady deals, to the fast living and fancy cars and, yes, the prostitutes, this book describes it all to a T -- with wit, compassion, and honesty. Of course, if you were there in Moscow in the mid-to-late 1990s you probably don't need to read the book -- you lived the dream. But for all others, this book is as close as you'll probably come to having been there in the flesh. My Moscow gone by... I miss it so.
 |
Title: Consuming Russia: Popular Culture, Sex, and Society Since Gorbachev by Adele Marie Barker ISBN: 0822323133 Publisher: Duke Univ Pr (Txt) Pub. Date: June, 1999 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
 |
Title: Casino Moscow : A Tale of Greed and Adventure on Capitalism's Wildest Frontier by Matthew Brzezinski ISBN: 0684869764 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: July, 2001 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
 |
Title: Violent Entrepreneurs: The Use of Force in the Making of Russian Capitalism by Vadim Volkov ISBN: 0801487781 Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr Pub. Date: September, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: From Nyet to Da: Understanding the Russians (Interact Series) by Yale Richmond ISBN: 1877864412 Publisher: Intercultural Press Pub. Date: September, 1996 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
 |
Title: Memoir of a Russian Punk by Edward Limonov, Eduard Limonov ISBN: 0802110266 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: November, 1990 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
