Customer Reviews

The Gem Hunter-True Adventures of an American in Afghanistan

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved Gary's book! I've been a mineral dealer for over 15 years. I've travelled to Mexico, the Russian Far East, Madagascar, Brazil and Pakistan in search of mineral specimens. While I have never smuggled myself across any country's border into a war zone (as Gary has, numerous times), I do know something about the physical, cultural and political challenges of business and travel in the developing world. Gary's book accurately and enjoyably describes th real risks and rewards involved in such travel.

Why do people take these risks? It's not really for the gems. Nor for the adventure. It's for the opportunity to learn about yourself while learning about other people.

Don't read Gary's book looking to discover the "trade secrets" of the gemstone business. Read Gary's book for a unique perspective on a part of the world most of us will never know first hand. Read Gary's book to learn how important personal contacts between different peoples and cultures can be. It's a good read --- full of adventure and discovery ---with the Taliban, the Northern Alliance, Osama bin Laden, and our own CIA as a backdrop.

The Gem Hunter: True Adventures Of An American In Afghanistan is the personal memoir of an American man who spent thirty years seeking precious gems in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan. His encounters with Afghan miners, freedom fighters, government officials, ethnic peoples, scientists, and sometimes even international spies fill this amazing and colorful tale of danger, determination, and the drive to earn a living by literally seeking one's fortune. Photographs, maps, figures, coordinates of gems and minerals in Afghanistan, and much more round out this thoroughly engrossing and engaging true story.

The Gem Hunter is a boots-on-the-ground, first hand account of Bowersox's 30+ years of travel to Afghanistan to buy rubies, sapphires, emeralds and lapis puts into perspective the unfolding story of the struggles, hopes & dreams of the Afghan people. Bowersox, who was friends with Massoud the head of the Northern Alliance who was killed at the hand of Bin Laden directed assassins two days before 911, tells about the involvement of the Russians, the Taliban, Al Qaeda and the Pakistani government's role in the affairs of the country. Although perhaps self serving, Bowersox says the best way to help everyday Afghan people is to buy gems from their country, one of their only legal exports with opium being number one illegal export.

Another must read is Gary Schroen's "First In" which is the missing piece of the puzzle about the early US intervention in Afghanistan after 911. The detailed account of the CIA's first team in pulls back the curtain on the enlistment of the support of the Northern Alliance and the subsequent military action to defeat the Taliban and push Al Qaeda into Pakistan. Inside info such as the $13,000,000 in cash brought into the country to buy favor, and the order by his superiors to "bring Bin Laden's head back in a box on dry ice" is dispensed by Schroen with little censorship by the CIA. Balanced with historical perspective, Gary Schroen's account of the CIA spearheaded War on Terror in Afghanistan is the most recent addition to an uncrowded field of first hand published stories of what really went on and still goes on in Afghanistan.

If you want to know more about this part of the world than 99.99% of all Americans, news pundits and politicians then read both of these books and you will. Better yet, give these books to US soldiers going to Afghanistan and you may save a life from the insight they provide.

If this book had a better editor, it would surely have been a 5 star effort.

As is, it's a colorful journey into the world of an international gem dealer. It's part autobiography, as we learn about his early life, military career and initial foray into the jewelry business in Hawaii.

The story really takes off when he does - journeying to far-off lands in search of exotic gemstones, often getting more than he bargained for.

Primarily focusing on harvesting lapis lazuli out of Afghanistan, he navigates international politics, Pakistani border guards and Taliban warlords. Exciting stuff.

And then when he finally gets out into the mountains, he has to mine the dusty Afghan ranges, mainly using dynamite to blast the lapis from rock.

Great true-life adventure, if a tad meandering. Loved the story, if not ALL of the book.

The Gem Hunter concerns gemologist Gary Bowersox's personal journey from self-absorbed businessman to advocate for gems as a tool for betterment of depauperate third-world economies. The prologue starts with his interrogation by a group of grim-faced men who never smile and never even think to offer him a drink of water. Who are they - Taliban, or Afghan secret police? No, they're U.S. Government intelligence agents, anxious to glean his expertise about Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9/11/2001. What follows is a personal account of Bowersox's personal journey from selfish businessman to world-traveler -- adventurer and ambassador for empowerment of third-world economies -- specifically, Afghanistan's war-ravaged economy. He accomplishes this by awakening them to the value of their native gemstone reserves.

Bluntly put, the writing here is crappy. It's reminiscent of your weird uncle's book manuscript -- you know, the one with the 4-inch-thick pile of paper in his upstairs office, hand-typed, and dusty -- the one he couldn't get a single publisher to take an interest in. The difference is that this guy actually got this thing published -- likely because of the topical subject matter. The text is sprawling, rambling, with distracting details, and Bowersox is occasionally full of himself and his attributes.

And yet... as Bowersox journeys into the netherworld border zone between Afghanistan and Pakistan, you can't help but being drawn along. You will feel the sweat and fly-bites endured by Bowersox and his mostly amiable (but sometimes untrustworthy) native companions -- the hunger pangs from going for two days without food, to be gratified by a friendly tribal family with whom breakfast is shared on a mud-packed floor; the weariness of walking for days along rocky switchbacks, hiding from guards under rags in a donkey-cart; leaving vehicles to walk around edgy border patrols by night, to meet up with another vehicle on the other side at dawn.

A downside is that the story comes to a natural ending somewhere in the early 1990s, with his exploration of the Afghan gem mines and the more-or-less successful networking of the Afghans into worldwide promotion of their resource via symposia and gem shows. But then, it starts all over again... and once again, we're expected to take part in dry, dusty journeys over mountain passes and the like. To be honest, I couldn't keep reading at this point; it was just too rambling, with no trajectory to pull me along yet again. The book could have really benefitted from a heavy-handed editor, or a ghost writer, and could have been a best-seller if trimmed down and given the proper flair.

Gem enthusiasts will enjoy the book, even if marginally; but the focus is much more about Bowersox's journey than about gems per se. Fuzzy black & white photos throughout the book succesfully enhance the story, but the gem photos would have really benefitted from color presentation, if only 2 page's worth (there are a few color gem photos on the dust jacket). This book will be of most interest to those looking for an Indiana Jones sort of travelogue and an insider's view about modern Afghanistan.

Well, I thought I was going to get a book about gem tales.. Not at all what this is about... basically a " We had hard travel to the area, we hiked up mountains, we met miners, we looked around, we went back to flea ridden quarters, oh and someone approached me with a stone and I bought it". Where's the Beef?? or in this case, the goods! A story about personalities and people, not about gems. A dribble of what was there, no descriptions at all, no details of the deal! What on earth did you buy?? I mean for the guy who had the inside track with the sufi based northern alliance, and aside from opium provided much needed hard currency when the U.S. administration was backing osama bin laden and the pre-taliban, I'm sure lots and lots of gems and cash were processed. But not even the highlights of some of that were discussed.. after doing this for 30 years??
Well, that's why I am disappointed. I expected more gemological information etc.. So I can't recommend this book if your looking for arm chair gem hunting. Too bad, because I am sure the tale is there, and I'm sure it would be fascinating.. it's just not in this book.. maybe his other one on the geology and gemology would have more details, but I suspect that one might miss the background color... it's just very frustrating..

It is unbecoming of Gary to include so much about his love life, so to speak, in a book about gemstones and travel in Afghanistan.

Also his book portrays him as accomplishing all single-handedly and he did not, by any means. This makes it quite a one-sided book.