Miles of Experience [Hardcover]

Boris Zubry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2002

From his childhood days in the Soviet Union, through his working life around the world, Boris Zubry has been an acute observer of the people around him. In these stories he picks at the fabric of our civilization, at the morals and mores of present-day life from Silicon Valley, California, to Saudi Arabia. His directness is sometimes astonishing; his opinions and prejustice not at all guarded.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Boris Zubry is a writer to be reconed with, one who speak out with the power of the printed word on the injustices of our time. Most of these stories do not end happily. But they do awaken us to how we choose to live our lives. The lessons to be learned are worthwhile.

From the Author

I tried to tell my stories in the same way we often see the world, in real colors. The happy end is not the end we experience at the completion of every story we are living through. I tried to present a photograph rather than a painting.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Rivercross Publishing (June 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581410670
• ISBN-13: 978-1581410679
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,078,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Memories of Russia, September 27, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Miles of Experience (Hardcover)

My Mom got this book and was reading it. I liked the picture on the cover, and looked for more pictures. And then Mom asked if I would like to read something about Russia. I was born there, but I don't remember much about it. I started reading just because Mom asked for it, but then I kinda liked it, and read 2 more stories. It is not like anything I read before, almost like fiction, but I still liked it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a storyteller!--this book had me hooked from Page 1, December 20, 2002

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Miles of Experience (Hardcover)

I got this book days before 2002 ended, and I have to say, it got my vote for Best Book I've Read This Year. I am a sucker for memoir-based fiction and memoir, especially travel memoir. But Mr. Zubry's deceptively simple style and ability to zing you with "the moral of the story" had me hooked instantly.

The first tale in the book sets up an idyllic scene in ageless Araby. It's Saudi Arabia, but to the generations of simple shopkeepers, life has not changed appreciably in centuries. A father, a shopkeeper in a line of shopkeepers going back to hazy memory has a precious single son. Will his son, who now goes to school 4 hours a day by goverment mandate, be a shopkeeper like him? Or will he aspire to more? He is full of promise, a good boy. The shop comes into some luck--a wealthy group of travelers come to town and patronize the shop. The family is happy to serve their needs while they are in town. But as the story unfolds in Zubry's fable-like tone, you dimly wonder if you aren't being set up for a nasty blow. Oh, you bet you are. But it still comes as a surprise, and I had to read the story twice to grasp the impact as well as the way the author had told the tale.

The other stories are of Zubry's childhood growing up in the Soviet Union, his dreams, his artistic drive, and his travels as he works on projects in Saudia Arabia and in Washington State. Pieces of pure fiction are also to be found--are they stories someone told him or works of pure imagination? I don't know, but each story retains Zubry's unique ability to tell a tale in the simplest words with imagery and deep emotion. They feel "true" --they may be true, but whether or not they actually occurred, they have that element of poetic truth that makes fiction worth reading not only for entertainment but for learning about life.

I highly recommend this book--it should appeal to a wide range of readers due to the variety of the content, the limpid style, and the irresistible pleasure of being told a good tale. Bravo, Mr. Zubry! Write more, please, some more!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Straight talk., August 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Miles of Experience (Hardcover)

I am an avid reader, usually a book per week, and this book is the best I've read in the past year, maybe longer.
Spoiled by centuries proven Chechov, Tolstoy, O'Henry and a few others I was sceptical at first, but as I start reading it I loved it. It is brilliantly imagined, whimsical, funny and thoughtful.
Congratulations To the author!
Congratulations to the readers!