
Putin Country
A Journey into the Real Russia
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Narrated by:
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Anne Garrels
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By:
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Anne Garrels
Long before the meteor strike, longtime NPR correspondent Anne Garrels had Chelyabinsk in her sights. More than 10 years ago, she began visiting the city in order to understand what life was really like in post-Soviet Russia, beyond the confines of the glitzy Moscow metropolis.
In Chelyabinsk, she discovered a populace for whom the new democratic freedoms were as traumatic as they were delightful. A closed nuclear city throughout the Cold War, Chelyabinsk was thrown into disarray in the early '90s as its formerly state-controlled factories were exposed to the free market. And the next 20 years would only bring more turmoil. The city became richer and more cosmopolitan, even as the forces of corruption and intolerance became more entrenched.
In Putin Country: A Journey into the Real Russia, Garrels crafts an intimate portrait of the nation's heartland. We meet ostentatious mafiosos, upwardly mobile professionals, impassioned activists, scheming taxi drivers with dark secrets, and beleaguered steel workers. We discover surprising subcultures, like the LGBT residents of Chelyablinsk who bravely endure an upsurge in homophobia fueled by Putin's rhetoric of Russian "moral superiority" yet still nurture a vibrant if clandestine community of their own. And we watch doctors and teachers try to do their best in a corrupt system. Through these encounters, Garrels reveals why Putin commands the support and loyalty of so many Russians, even those who decry the abuses of power they encounter from day to day. Her portrait of Russia's silent majority is essential listening at a time when Cold War tensions are resurgent.
©2016 Anne Garrels (P)2016 HighBridge, a division of Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"Former NPR reporter Anne Garrels...delivers a terrific narration of her own fascinating look at the current state of the former Soviet Union.... Whatever news she's delivering, it's mesmerizing." (AudioFile)
Very Insightful
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Informative
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Anne Garrels spent years in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk getting to the heart of the "Real Russia." The results are fascinating but eventually feel a bit repetitive. More or less everyone we hear from has had the same experiences. Tales of corruption, shakedowns, and brutality abound.
Interesting - even if Russia's tourism board is bound to hate it.
Insight amid repetition
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disjointed
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Great insight into Russia
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comprehensive cross-section of modern Russia
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Fascinating and illuminating
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Awesome
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Any additional comments?
I remain very interested in what is happening in Russia and how its people are handling the changes since the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of Putin. However, this book was a struggle for me to finish. The author correctly chose to focus on an out of the way city, but I found her reporting excessively detailed and minute. For me, there were just too many details about poorly educated people trying to live their lives. This book could have been half as long but better edited and made more of an impact.Tedious writing on an interesting subject
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Great insight into what is happening in Russia today
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