The Other Side of Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East

Award-winning author Sharon Hudgins takes readers on a personal adventure through the Asian side of Russia-from the "high-rise villages" of Vladivostok and Irkutsk to Lake Baikal and the Trans-Siberian Railroad route. Join her as a guest confronted with exotic dishes at Christmas parties, New Year's banquets, Easter dinners, and Siberian festivals-and discover what daily life is really like on Russia's "other side." "Sharon Hudgins has written a vivid and engrossing book about a part of the world that's both geographically and ethnically complex. She's done much to make the unfamiliar familiar."--Larry McMurtry "Rare is the person who can step into the wonderland of Siberia and capture the culture and the spirit of its people. Sharon Hudgins has done that and more. . . . This is a warm, considered, and completely engaging work from start to finish. For those seeking a window into the soul of Siberia, you need look no further."--James A. Cramer, President & CEO, World Learning ". . . an animated examination of grim, grimy, and unpredictably gracious ordinary life in the extrordinary place she calls Absurdistan."-Alfred Friendly, Jr., coauthor, Ecocide in the USSR, and former Newsweek Moscow Bureau Chief