false 581319 3 If Michael Lewis (<I>The New New Thing</I>, <I>Liar's Poker</I>) or P.J. O'Rourke (<I>Holidays in Hell</I>, <I>Parliament of Whores</I>) had spent the 1990s in Moscow, they might have produced a book like <I>Casino Moscow</I>--a dizzying first-person account of the wild east and its shotgun wedding with capitalism. It begins with Matthew Brzezinski as a rookie reporter getting beaten and nearly killed by a pair of Ukrainian thugs; the rest of the book is a white-knuckle tour through a place where the line separating entrepreneurs and criminals is often impossible to discern. Brzezinski worked in the Moscow bureau of the <I>Wall Street Journal</I>. If his name sounds familiar, that's because he's the nephew of Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter's national security advisor. He is an ideal guide: sometimes it takes a fish-out-of-water foreigner to see the things a jaded native cannot. (Comparing the author to Alexis de Tocqueville or Gunnar Myrdal is a stretch, but it's the same idea.) Brzezinski also writes with great humor and amazing panache. Describing the parking lot of a high-class bank, he writes that it "resembled a well-stocked Mercedes dealership that specialized only in armored, navy blue 600-series sedans, or <I>shestotki</I>, as the top-of-the-line models were affectionately known--as in 'My <I>shestotka</I>'s just been blown up, can I borrow yours?'" Gangsters, prostitutes, and Western investors fill these pages, all of them coming to life courtesy of Brzezinski's narrative skill.<p> Despite the title, <I>Casino Moscow</I> isn't just about Moscow--some of the best sections cover other parts of Russia: "It was heartbreaking that St. Petersburg had been so mistreated. Yet even in its state of decay, I still preferred its shabby elegance to Moscow's new-money makeover. In St. Petersburg you lived for the past; Moscow lived only for the day." At the edge of Siberia, on the Pacific coast, is Vladivostok--"five time zones ahead of the Russian capital, but a decade behind." The book is a fast-paced adventure story--and a must for readers interested in Russia as well as fans of modern-day gonzo journalism. Brzezinski is a writer to watch. <I>--John Miller</I> 568208 2001 Casino Moscow: A Tale of Greed and Adventure on Capitalism's Wildest Frontier total:18|5:2|4:4|3:7|2:5| 18 57 24 5 4 0 false false Mon Jan 14 04:55:31 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 05:01:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 09 12:46:39 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 09 12:49:51 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Thu Jun 28 15:38:48 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 15:40:56 -0700 2007 2 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Thu Apr 03 10:59:06 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 03 11:01:52 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Fri Jul 20 14:35:42 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 20 14:36:20 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Sat Jun 27 07:24:31 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 07:24:31 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Nov 13 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Wed Feb 25 15:11:22 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 15:11:49 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Mon Jan 05 14:20:15 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 05 14:20:15 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Dec 27 19:23:22 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 27 19:23:22 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Sat Dec 20 13:22:08 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 13:22:08 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Thu Oct 02 07:41:31 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 02 07:41:31 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Sep 21 11:54:47 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 21 11:54:47 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Aug 26 11:53:16 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 26 11:53:16 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Wed Jul 23 20:30:48 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 20:30:48 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Sun Jul 13 17:58:02 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 13 17:58:04 -0700 2008 2 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sun May 11 02:04:05 -0700 2008 Sun May 11 02:04:14 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue Apr 29 23:53:24 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 29 23:53:40 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Apr 15 12:23:51 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 15 12:23:59 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Mon Feb 25 20:00:42 -0800 2008 Tue Jul 08 16:56:48 -0700 2008 3 0 true false Fri Jan 25 09:25:13 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 09:25:28 -0800 2008