LG Obsessions: Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven
China, Group Travel, Travel Books & Movies, Travel Philosophy — By Amanda P on April 23, 2009 at 3:09 pmBy Amanda Pressner
LG Executive Editor
It’s not often that we pick up a book that all three Lost Girls become obsessed with. But after receiving an advance copy of Susan Jane Gilman’s latest tome Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven (and each reading the first three chapters) we found ourselves fighting over who’d get to get the first crack at it.
“In 1986, fresh out of college, Gilman and her friend Claire yearned to do something daring and original that did not involve getting a job. Inspired by a placemat at the International House of Pancakes, they decided to embark on an ambitious trip around the globe, starting in the People’s Republic of China. At that point, China had been open to independent travelers for roughly ten minutes.
Armed only with the collected works of Nietzsche and an astrological love guide, the two friends plunged into the dusty streets of Shanghai. Unsurprisingly, they quickly found themselves in over their heads. As they ventured off the map deep into Chinese territory, they were stripped of everything familiar and forced to confront their limitations amid culture shock and government surveillance. What began as a journey full of humor, eroticism, and enlightenment grew increasingly sinister – becoming a real-life international thriller that transformed them forever.”
6 Comments
I love this woman!! I have given her books away as gifts tomy sisters! Can’t wait to read this one.
Interesting text!!!
All these books I want to read and no time!!
I can imagine what must have happened next. China’s no more a very safe country to go to.
Will surely read the book to gain the inside scoop though.
It’s strange, we can just imagine only. I would love to read all of them but the time wouldn’t allow me to do that, but i will.
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