A Reputation for Being Dangerous...um not me.

I just watched a clip on t.v. about Ryan Knighton, the blind Capilano College prof. who wrote Cockeyed. He seems genuinely interesting, which mean that I must rush into work tomorrow and put a hold on his book, which must also by default and as a memoir, with local flavour be captivating as well. The reviews seem to indicate the same :
http://www.thebukowskiagency.com/Cockeyed.htm
My brother's ex-girlfriend also had him as an English prof, and thought he was great. He spoke succinctly about writing a story about a small town boy of eighteen finding his direction in life and simultaneously adapting to what life will be like as a blind man.

And now, to recommend a book I've actually read:

Letters from St Petersburg by Victoria Hammond.

I often start non-fiction books, but it truly is a delicious triumph when I finish one. This is a place I've been thinking about visiting. Well, about how interesting it would be to visit sometime in the next few years while I'm abroad. Now, I'm not so sure that is a good idea, though I am more interested than ever...I couldn't put this down, even though at times I felt opressed by some of what the author described, it cast a temporary gloom, even in the cheery atmosphere of my cozy apartment. Lots of us have a fascination with Russia (right?) - just look how Russia shows up in all those films, the politics, the horror of nuclear power ill managed, and the radioactive spies. Although I minored in English Lit. as an undergrad, I have never read Pushkin, or any other Russian author. I wonder why? I know even less about the history of Russia. This book dabbles in the past but concerns itself with the present and the ideology and culture of the Russian people. Perhaps that is travel writing at it's best, an honest exploration of daily life for "the other" - Victoria Hammond, an Australian curator heads to Russia for the first time to stay with the friends of a friend, curators themselves. She explores the poverty that academics and artists live in, and the fixation on the golden past the permeates the culture. She experiences unbelievable filth, beautiful, ornate and crumbling architecture, gets four different kinds of worms, visits a museum collections of "human monsters" preserved alongside all sorts of wonders, she flirts with a soldier on a train who follows her through the city, gets lost underground many times, and experiences influence of the Russian mafia as a friend is forced to move from a desireable apartment that she owns so that her apartment can be given to someone else. The rich cast of friends that people this story make it a very interesting and enlightening read.

"I know no one. I don't speak the language. The city has a reputation for being dangerous. I've become addicted to this scenario, to the thrill of travelling alone and watching how I deal with the terrors of a strange place. But this time it's different: Ada, a curator at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, is meeting me. At least I hope to God she's meeting me."