The Fire Escape Is Locked for Your Safety: On the Road in the Former Soviet Union

by Molly J. Baier, Lisa Jacyszyn

Release Date: September, 2001

Edition: Paperback

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An interesting read

It's a good book, but not quite what I expected when I made the purchase. The author writes about her trip in 1999 through the Ukraine, Belarus Lithuani, Latavia, Estonia, Finland, and then across Russia to Vladivostok. She writes snapshot views into her journey, and while the snapshots are presented in cronological order they don't always connect. For example, in one chapter she's riding a train. The next opens with her getting off a bus. The book doesn't cover the sites she's there to visit, but instead focuses in on the journey itself.

If you're looking for some light reading about traveling, this book fits the bill. Only most people are more interested in what happens at each stop on the trip, and don't need to know the details of catching the train, checking into the hotel, or attempting to deal with getting a visa registered or hotels to stamp the visa. Some of the detail is useful, as the process *is* different and could be mind-bending for someone not prepared for it.

I was also shaking my head as we see the author (who is making the trip after a multi-year business trip to help reform Russia) attempting to use legaleze to force people to give her the same price as a Russian citizen. (It's expected that forigners will pay more for things like hotels, bus tickets, train rides, etc. Forget the clause in the Russian Constitution -- no one abides by it. Which is what the author finally realizes after weeks of arguing.)

Loved It!

This was a fascinating, humorous read (from a Western point of view), and I wish it had been a few hundred pages longer! Two highlights: finding an internet connection, and a Russian woman's view of President Clinton. I admire the author's chutzpah; (what a crusader!), armed with a copy of the Russian Consitution, she challenged the unfair and illegal pricing that she met at every stop. Excellent job, Ms. Baier.