Taxi to Tashkent: Two Years with the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan

I met this local Austin author at a book fair in Georgetown and traded books with him. At age 40, Tom Fleming found himself bored with his office job in Austin and decided to join the Peace Corps. He spent two years in the former Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan conducting AIDS education. Almost from the beginning, Tom finds the Peace Corps to be more bureaucratic than idealistic, and Uzbekistan to combine much of the worst of the former Soviet Union and the repressive Muslim world. Still, the friendships Tom makes are unforgettable. If you've ever been curious about what it would be like to serve in the Peace Corps, this is a great eye-opener. Tom lets us get to know the country and the experience through his eyes, and is very self-revealing even of his own faults and stumbles. His writings about Uzbek women are especially interesting -- he took the time to know several women as individuals, and found that the way in which they were treated was much harder to accept that he had imagined. Taxi to Tashkent is a fascinating read about a man's journey learning about another country and about himself. Reviewer: Liz Clare, co-author of the historical novel "To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark"

I have known Tom for many years. I followed his adventures on his blog while he was there in Uzbekistan. The book really made clear a lot more of what was going on. There were a number of things he just simply couldn't cover on his blog for fear of pissing someone off. In Uzbekistan, you don't want to piss off the wrong people. The book is written in a great narrative style. As if we were sitting over a few beers (maybe Vodka would be more appropriate) at a local bar and someone was telling me this. A very easy to follow and engaging style. It took me just over a day to read. I really didn't want to put it down. The down side: Too short. I'd have liked a bit more expansion on some of the narratives; maybe I'll get it a bit more on the 2nd read through. I got a definite idea of what it would be like to be dropped in to this country and told 'get on with it'. So different, so alien and somewhat oddly peaceful.

Being someone who has not traveled much, but who is interested in knowing about other cultures and parts of the world, I found this book to be an interesting first-hand account of the author's experience. He describes the surroundings and the culture very well from his perspective as an American. I enjoyed meeting the people he met through his descriptions and experiencing something of what it was like to be in the Peace Corps for two years. Well written and enjoyable to read.

"Taxi to Tashkent" dovetails over two growing genres of writing: Central Asian studies and Peace Corps memoirs. Harboring vast potential for interest, both genres are fast becoming cliche, even while not yet reaching greater audiences. Such is the fate of niche writing. But here, Fleming offers hope. In general, books coming out of Central Asia are either chock-full of the same regurgitated travelogues (Silk Road, Great Game, KGB, Taliban) with which one quickly grows familiar. Or, they offer contemporary observations of a troubled region with much to tempt the foreign investor into dreaming and much to dissuade the international corporation from acting. In other words, everyone wills himself a TH Lawrence. Fleming doesn't waste our time with any such pontification. Equally monotonous is the ever-expanding library of the returned volunteer memoir, in which we witness as a young idealist slowly learns what 'dirty' means while playing catch with village children. These are just modern spins on "Innocents Abroad". Fleming also spares us from such repetition. In "Taxi", we meet a volunteer who finds much to report around him, while resisting the temptation to evaluate his observations for us. Fleming doesn't feel the need to explain it all; he's comfortable with the ambiguity of the surroundings. The reader will feel the same humorous, depressing and frustrating reactions to life-as-fish-out-of-water as do many individuals who have experienced life as an outsider. Further, Fleming doesn't fit in with the average age demographics of volunteers (fresh out of college or retired), so he's somewhat isolated even among his familiars. Don't worry; you'll still gaze at Tamurlane's crumbling azure domes and the shrunken Aral Sea. But your usual choice of arrogant or naive company will have been replaced by a Toastmaster. It's like riding around with Stephen Colbert out of character. If you want a shelf reference, keep buying Central Asian studies. If you want neo-Victorian missionary diaries, check out yet another returned volunteer memoir. However, if you want hilarious and thoughtful reportage brought raw and unfiltered from two years of awkward situations (a much more honest account of life since globalization), grab "Taxi to Tashkent".

Taxi to Tashkent is a terrific eye-witness account of a Central Asian country. More than a introduction to the food, customs and daily life in this blue-eyed Muslim country, Fleming shows with honesty and humor the challenges of living as a fish out of water. Not only does he give a genuine account of his host country, but is honest about the challenges of being a Peace Corps volunteer. This is a must read for anyone with romantic notions of travel.