The Merry Baker of Riga

Rating:
Summary: One man's remarkable determination to succeed
Review: The Merry Baker Of Riga: An American Entrepreneur Ventures Into Eastern Europe is the true story of an American expatriate who decided to establish a Western-style bakery in Latvia in 1992, just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. His run ins with language barriers, having to re-train Soviet-trained bakers, the threats of Russian mafia racketeers who menaced his business, culture shock, and much more fill the pages of this rousing travelogue and business tale filled with twists, turns, unexpected challenges and one man's remarkable determination to succeed.

Rating:
Summary: Latvia recuperates from its Soviet hangover
Review: This is an excellent book for anyone who experienced life in the early 90's in Latvia or any other country that was once behind the Iron Curtain. Zemtzov perfectly describes what many of us experienced on a day to day basis that infuriated us then and what we can laugh about now. He also did a tremendous job of researching the history of Latvia and provided the reader with trivia that many latvians themselves weren't aware of. It's a very quick read and I was often laughing myself silly.