Summary
Part graphic novel travelogue, part tongue-in-cheek travel guide, this collection gathers the adventures of caustic cartoonist Ted Rall in the wild and woolly central Asian countries, a veritable powder keg sitting atop the oil the world will need tomorrow. The book combines articles with comics in chapters that relate Rall's experiences retracing the legendary Silk Road, from the sublime history of China to the absurdity of the present-day petty dictatorships of the The 'Stans, to which the author had the temerityor perhaps stupidityto return, including once with a group of listeners on his radio show, on a dare. This always-lively compendium offers readers an exotic adventure, satire, and a fun way to find out more about an often overlooked part of the world that looms in importance with its immense, and immensely coveted, reserves of oil.
Variant and related titles
Underground and independent comics, comix, and graphic novels. Volume 3, The modern age. OCLC KB.
Contents
Cover; Also Available by Ted Rall from NBM; Acknowledgements & Copyright; Contents; Maps & Country Profiles; PREFACE; INTRODUCTION by Ahmed Rashid; FOREWORD by the Author; Central Asia; I. LENIN LIVES!; II. THE GLORY THAT WAS TURKMENBASHI; Turkmenistan; III. CHECKPOINT MADNESS; Afghanistan; Graphic Novel LA: Beijing to Istanbul 1997; IV. TAJIKS DON'T LIVE IN TAJIKISTAN; Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; V. GOOD EATS; Graphic Novel LA: Karakoram Highway 1999; VI. RADICALS, REPRESSION AND REVOLUTION; Uzbekistan; Kyrgyzstan; Graphic Novel LA: Stan Trek 2000; VII. HIGH ANXIETY
VIII. A GOOD DAY TO DIETajikistan; Graphic Novel LA: Turkmenistan 2000; Pipeline Routes; IX. CLASH OF THE TITANS; Kazakhstan; X. ECO HELL; Graphic Novel LA: Tajikistan 2002; XI. WHAT IS TO BE DONE?; XII. UNDER THE SWORD OF DAMOCLES; XIII. IF YOU GO; Selected Bibliography; About the Author