Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven

I discovered this book years ago on a discount table, and it quickly became one of my all-time favorites, a memoir I’ve reread several times and loaned to friends.

Gilman and her college friend—someone she knows, but not really—backpack through China in 1986, right after it’s been opened to travelers after the Cultural Revolution.

Two naive Americans, in way over their heads as things grow stranger and stranger. Described as “a modern heart of darkness filled with Communist operatives, backpackers, and pancakes,” her story is guaranteed to shock and surprise even the most seasoned traveler.

Great title, great… show more.

Susan Jane Gilman and travel companion Claire are among the first wave of solo foreigners allowed into China in the 1980s, two spoiled young Americans fresh out of college on their very first trip abroad. Shunted around from one disorienting location to another by shady locals who may or may not be trying to take advantage of them, trapped in hotels with indifferent staff, unpalatable food, and nothing to do, they last a respectable six weeks before being spat out of the country. But not before Gilman must contend with a psychotic and delusional Claire, who stops eating, wades naked… show more.