I Was a Potato Oligarch: Travels and Travails in the New Russia

by John Mole

Overview

In a charming saga of sun, sea, sand - and cement - John Mole tells of the back-breaking but joyous labours of fixing up his own Arcadia and introduces a warm, generous and garrulous cast of characters who helped (and occasionally hindered) his progress.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781473644717
Publisher:	Quercus
Publication date:	12/15/2010
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

John Mole has been at home in Greece for thirty years. "Like Odysseus making his legendary way home to his birthplace Ithaca, the island of Evia was the goal of my life's journey. It was better than Birmingham." He has had a varied international career, from banking in the USA and Athens to jacket potato restaurants in Russia. Meanwhile, he published comic novels and management books, including the perennial bestseller 'Mind Your Manners'.

Editorial Reviews

In this funny travel memoir, entrepreneur Mole (It's All Greek to Me!) recounts his adventures as an "international development consultant" in post-Soviet Russia. Ever chasing the next "Big One," Mole finds himself hawking a stuffed baked potato fast food franchising scheme in the midst of an economic meltdown. Along with Russian pals Misha and Oleg, Mole learns that finding a decent potato in Russia is nearly as hard as securing financing there. Mole drinks, bluffs and bribes his way across missile bases, spud farms, and the business lecture circuit. While often witty, Mole, it becomes apparent, does sympathize with the various average Russians he meets struggling to make a living: one older woman from Yekaterinburg trying to sell a single possession-a left shoe; a biochemist dedicates his life "to one little bug" while working on a "couple of wooden tables, a few test tubes and other bits and pieces out of a decent chemistry set."
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Publishers Weekly

Mole (It's All Greek to Me!), a business writer, serial entrepreneur, and professional expat, has put together an account of living in Russia that is both funny and informative. His adventures in bringing a baked-potato franchise from South London to Moscow run the gamut from finding the right kind of potatoes (not that easy, apparently) to selecting a name that could be understood by both Russians and foreigners in either Cyrillic or Roman characters. In the midst of all this, readers learn that Mole has been known to wear tutus, has a head too large for standard Russian hats, and was once mugged by musicians when playing in the woods. Mole has even more to say about all the red tape one has to deal with when starting a business in Russia in the early 1990s; unsurprisingly, the Russian mafia also plays a role. Finally, he ends up ditching potatoes and working instead on a joint venture to develop a new type of bioreactor. This entertaining read about the strength of the entrepreneurial spirit, even under extremely difficult circumstances, is recommended.
—Susan Hurst

Library Journal