Lost Cosmonaut : Observations of an Anti-Tourist

English

ISBN: 0743289943

EAN: 9780743289948

Category: Travel / Essays & Travelogues/Travel / Russia/

Publisher: Scribner

Release Date: 09/13/2011

Synopsis: Daniel Kalder belongs to a unique group: the anti-tourists. Sworn to uphold the mysterious tenets ofThe Shymkent Declarations, the anti-tourist seeks out the dark, lost zones of our planet, eschewing comfort, embracing hunger and hallucinations, and always traveling at the wrong time of year. InLost Cosmonaut, Kalder visits locations that most of us dont even know exist -- Tatarstan, Kalmykia, Mari El, and Udmurtia. He loves these places because no one else does, because everyone else passes them by.A tale of adventure, conversation, boredom, and observation -- occasionally enhanced by an overactive imagination -- Kalder reveals a world of hidden cities, lost rites, mail-order brides, machine guns, mutants, and cold, cold emptiness. In the desert wastelands of Kalmykia, he stumbles upon New Vasyuki, the only city in the world dedicated to chess. In Mari El, home to Europes last pagan nation, he meets the chief Druid and participates in an ancient rite; while in the bleak industrial badlands of Udmurtia, Kalder searches for Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the AK-47, and inadvertently becomes a TV star. An unorthodox mix of extraordinary stories woven together with fascinating history, peculiar places, and even stranger people,Lost Cosmonautis poetic and profane, hilarious and yet oddly heartwarming, bizarre and even educational. In short, its the perfect guide to the most alien planet in our cosmos: Earth.

Excerpt: Unknown Property Excerpt

Lost Cosmonaut : Observations of an Anti-Tourist

Illustrated: Yes

Format: Paperback

Height: 0.72 inches

Width: 5.5 inches

Length: 8.44 inches

Weight: 11.61 oz

Pages: 288