Title: 'Stan-tastic
Product review: Grim topic, great book. The tale of Ferguson's year of living dangerously as an environmentalist in post-Communist (but not post-corruption) Uzbekistan is part thriller, part work of reportage and part gripping traveller's tale.Ferguson's witty, sardonic and humane narrative exposes both the environmental devastation wrought on the Aral Sea by corruption, greed and bad planning and the tragicomic realpolitik involved in international development projects.Despite the mounting frustrations of his stymied job and the corruption and crime he recounts -- including a brutal murder -- Ferguson writes with real affection for Central Asia and its people. The characters are vividly drawn, and the book is dotted with sharp vignettes of the fabled cities of the Silk Road. I hope a British edition is available soon.
Would you say this review depicts the product in a flattering or unflattering light?
