Shopping for Buddhas

I think travel, regardless of the country(ies) it might take you, is perhaps best approached with a touch of whimsy and a sense of adventure. Truly seasoned travelers have the ability and willingness to absorb another culture while laughing at both the experiences they face and at the preconceived notions they bring with them. I've just finished Shopping with Buddhas and Greenwald seems to be that kind of traveler.I enjoyed this book because, among other things, it brought the colors of the subcontinent (where I grew up) to life. Greenwald spends most of the book in a near obsessive hunt for a perfect statue of the Buddha, only to find it when he is least expecting it and at a price he is hesitant to pay. Which, when you think about it, is an interesting reflection on how things of true value come to us when we least expect it, and ask of us a price we may not be willing to pay at first. I also like that Greenwald is unafraid to take whimsical potshots at his western outlook on many eastern situations! I grew up in the subcontinent and now live in the West, so I do exactly the same thing-in reverse!An interesting read whether you are headed to the East or, like me, are a commuter dreaming of warmer climes!

Although often very funny, the book is not frivolous. There is plenty of self-deprecating humor in it, some of it quite broad, but there is also searing criticism of corruption (exporting looted antiquities and importing heroin, both tied to the Nepali royal family) and the corruption of production of images of gods, goddesses, and Buddhas for the tourist market. Some of the humor is very mordant. I happened to be reading this book in another tourist-overrun part of Southeast Asia where there are many shoddy Buddhas for sale, and just after reading Mark Twain's _Roughing It_. _Shopping for Buddhas_ seemed to me more reliable and every bit as funny as Mark Twain's tale of going and staying in the American West and getting halfway to Kathmandu (Hawai'i).

Jeff Greenwald takes us on a cosmic shopping trip around Nepal, looking for the perfect statue of Buddha. While he sometimes gets wrapped up in his own karma, he has a nice tongue-in-cheek attitude to his quest and is perfectly able to make fun of himself. If you're more interested in the travel side than the spritual, you could skim through the Buddhist history, though the descriptions thereof do give an accessible background to Greenwald's search. Even if your souvenir headaches have only extended to that perfect Balinese sarong, anyone can enjoy this tale of spiritual materialism. The final pre-departure encounter with a customs official is almost too perfect an ending to the quest- but I won't say any more about that!