SOCIAL SCIENCES

Dispatches from Dystopia: Histories of Places Not Yet Forgotten

by Kate Brown
Univ. of Chicago. Apr. 2015. 328p. illus. notes. bibliog. ISBN 9780226242798. $25; ebk. ISBN 9780226242828. TRAV
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Brown's (history, Univ. of Maryland) unusual, bordering-on-bizarre book addresses "dystopia." One definition of dystopia is "an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives." An alternative meaning is "anti-utopia." Since all of the places Brown writes about (Kazakhstan; Montana; Chernobyl and Uman in the Ukraine; Seattle; radioactive Russian villages; Elgin, IL) are real, one can only assume she means the latter. These places have truly seen better days. One might never think of comparing Karaganda, Kazakhstan, with Billings, MT, or of Kyshtym, Russia, with Hanford, WA, but Brown does—often with irony and poignancy.
VERDICT It is difficult to categorize this book. Traditional travel enthusiasts would not really consider this travel but rather a sort of academic exercise that involves travel. Armchair travelers may not want to accompany Brown on her dark tourism adventures. But there is still something about the book: it is well written, raw, compelling, and seldom boring (although one ends up knowing more about Kazakhstan than one ever would need to).
Reviewed by Lee Arnold, Historical Soc. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia , Apr 01, 2015
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