Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven

Author: Susan Jane Gilman

Genre: Memoir

Publisher: Hachette Audio, 2009

CDs: 7

Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: They were young, brilliant, and bold. They set out to conquer the world. But the world had other plans for them.

Bestselling author Susan Jane Gilman's new memoir is a hilarious and harrowing journey, a modern heart of darkness filled with Communist operatives, backpackers, and pancakes.

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 place mat 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, an astrological love guide, and an arsenal of bravado, 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.

Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is a flat-out page-turner, an astonishing true story of hubris and redemption told with Gilman's trademark compassion, lyricism, and wit.

Review: This memoir was surprisingly good, but I'm glad this was Gilman's adventure and not mine. Asia isn't anywhere I've ever wanted to visit, and I'm even more certain of that now. That said, I do know that China today is not the China it was in 1980s.

The title doesn't do this book justice. I expected it to be light, chick lit, fluffy even, but there's depth and a darkness to Susan's memories. I love her naive, freshly graduated from college perspective, and way she has to roll with the punches and be at the mercy of so many strangers, both Chinese and foreign. An older traveler would have had a very different experience, to the reader's detriment.

After traipsing through China with Gilman, I enjoyed her "afterwards" immensely, and loved that she left no strings undone for the reader so invested in her crazy experiences and travels.

I was curious about the author so I did a little bit of research. I didn't realize Gilman also wrote The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street, which I also enjoyed.