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

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

by JohnMole (Author)

Synopsis

From the best-selling author of It's All Greek to Me! comes a wild tale of life and business in the brave new Russia. John Mole went to seek his fortune in the New Russia revolution with his Big Idea of setting up British baked potato restaurants to rival McDonald's and Pizza Hut, and came back with the rights for a revolutionary biotechnology for cleaning air pollution. In between he tangled with fantasists and scientists, Stalinists and Tolkeinists, hopeful oligarchs and hopeless biznismyen,A" muggers and, finally, the mafia. Sometimes sinister, often hilarious and always fascinating, this book is a Russian feast from caviar to samovar.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Edition: illustrated edition
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing Ltd
Published: 01 May 2008

ISBN 10: 1857885090
ISBN 13: 9781857885095

Media Reviews
A fantastic read. * Loose Ends, BBC Radio 4 *
I Was a Potato Oligarch is the charming, witty and utterly hilarious telling of Mole's real-life experiences in a Russia still coming to terms with capitalism and competition...Mole is a bright, resourceful guy but his most valuable traits are his biting sense of humour and a willingness to take every setback in his stride. Bearing comparison easily with the likes of David Sedaris, Mole's story makes for a wonderful read. * The Sunday Business Post *
Very readable and very funny. -- Clarissa Dickson Wright author of Spilling the Beans
Funny and perceptive, it gives a vivid and sympathetic picture of what Russians are really like, and how they manage to survive and enjoy themselves in their often chaotic country. -- Rodric Braithwaite, British ambassador to Moscow 1988-1992, and author of Across the Moscow River and Moscow 1941
Author Bio
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'.