Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven

I loved this book and zipped through it, reading at every spare moment that I could find. Gilman's ability to describe both the physical and emotional elements of her trip to China is beyond amazing. At times, I felt as though I could actually see (and smell) the places and people that the author described. I also found the author to be very honest and insightful about herself and her own contributions to the events that transpire in this incredibly well told account of her exhilarating and at times, emotionally devastating trip to China. The icing on the cake is Gilman's ability to find the humor in almost any situation, allowing the reader to laugh along with her as she describes what must have been some of the most unsettling and even terrifying moments in her life.

Susan Jane Gilman sits in an IHOP with her Brown University friend Claire Van Houten, when Claire declares they need to take a backpacking trip across the world, starting with the only recently opened Communist China. The next thing Suzie knows, they are equipped and ready, and landing in Hong Kong. From Hong Kong, they take a boat to Shanghai, where they stay in the worst accommodations, (the cheap ones) recommended by their backpacking guide. After all, this is supposed to be a rustic trip, not tourism. Clair is mortified by the open toilets (often an enclosed trench) and open shower facilities. But its still not rustic enough for her. They meet a German named Gunter, and a Chinese man who speaks English named Jonnie. Jonnie talks them into coming to his hometown of Dinghai, where no Americans have ever traveled. Reality crashes home here when Claire becomes sick and literally has to be "rescued" from a third world hospital with chickens in the reception room and rusty needles offered by misunderstanding doctors. On to Beijing, The Great Wall, Guilin, and Yangshuo they travel through worse and worse conditions, eventually finding a rose petal named Lisa in Yangshuo who has learned to cook Western food. During their travels, Claire, who starts out upbeat and the energetic enthusiast of the trip, slowly begins to slide into paranoia and hallucinogenic episodes. She's convinced she's being hunted by the Mossad, the CIA, and the FBI because "her father is a very important business man". She deteriorates daily, until its up to Suzie to find a way to get her insane friend back into the United States before Claire sets off any alarms in Communist China. 'Undress Me In The Temple Of Heaven' is not just an entertaining book but an important one also, one of the few ways you will "see" China as it was back then, before Western commercialism. These two young girls traveled there only ten months after tourism had opened, and all tourists and backpackers were suspect - and the traveling papers horrendous. The overwhelming goodness and decency of the poverty stricken inhabitants of China shocked the two young Americans. The Bureaucracy often confused them. The living conditions disgusted them. The food made them sick. The language barrier frustrated them. But you must read this book to travel along with them and feel each of these thoughts and feelings with Susan Jane Gilman. Gilman is an excellent writer, keeping her memoir in a very engaging style. She tells the story with wit, enthusiasm, atmosphere, and believability. There are no "lags" in the memoir, its interesting from page one to the end. She has completely captured the heart and soul of travel. In the book, when Suzie is reluctant and Claire is still buoyantly urging her on, Claire says "All good writers have traveled". Perhaps that's true, because this book is extremely well thought out and expertly executed. Don't miss out on this amazing travel tale. Ten Stars. Enjoy

Susan Jane Gilman wrote a memoir with what I consider to be the best title ever! And the memoir gives the title a real run for its money. I know it sounds cliché, but this was the proverbial page-turner that keeps one up all night regardless of 8:00am deadlines. . . I'm someone who grew up engaging in some wildly dangerous activities. Ms. Gilman's exceptional way with words struck such a familiar chord it gave me chills. As a parent of young adult daughters, it made me clutch at my heart and pray. Her story is wildly improbable, terribly exasperating, and unfortunately true. The fact that two young women went off so totally unprepared to a country with virtually no history of prolonged positive back and forth with the U.S. surprised me not in the least. How many dozens have I known just like them? The fact they made it out of China after the events which transpired though seems almost a miracle. I was surprised at how long it took for Gilman to actually figure out something was very much wrong with her friend, though maybe I shouldn't have been. After all, they were really more acquaintances than friends when they left the U.S. to travel the world. My only disappointment (and a fairly small one) with this story was in the lack of closure with Claire. This would be a fun book for a reading group, and a great gift for your best girlfriend (oh, oops, unless she's a paranoid schizophrenic). . .

Two well-educated, intelligent young women decide in a moment of naivete and foolishness to travel to China together in the 1980s. They struggle in the communist country with language, food, hygiene, and other things we take for granted in the United States. The author's friend at first seems a bit kooky but gradually becomes totally separated from reality. In other words, she loses her mind and becomes a danger to herself and others. The goal then becomes how to get her friend back to United States before anything too terrible can happen to her. Although this sounds grim and depressing, Gilman has written it in the style of Our Hearts Were Young and Gay. It is at times hysterically funny, and I often read passages out loud so my partner could understand why I was laughing. This is a wonderful book that proves that most people are decent and sweet. I can absolutely see it being made into a film.

What happens when two recent female college graduates decide to circumnavigate the world on a shoestring in 1986, starting in the tourism-challenged People's Republic of China? Let's just say that "Innocents Abroad" doesn't begin to describe it. Gilman and her pseudonymous companion, Claire, are arm's-length friends when they embark on the adventure of a lifetime, inspired by the map on an IHOP place mat. At some point in our lives, each of has probably pursued a brash dream with someone we hardly knew, but in Gilman and Claire's case, the consequences surpass anything they and their apprehensive families could have imagined. Beyond their naivete and the sheer foreignness of the environment the two young women plunge into, at 21, Gilman increasingly finds herself forced to deal with her friend's rapid descent into psychosis (which, she points out in the afterword, may have been the product of antimalarial medication). Along the way, she encounters some unforgettable characters: a generous, English-speaking Chinese man who befriends them in the hope that they will help him defect; a clueless, lumbering German misfit; a free-spirited American mother and her two rambunctious sons; a Chinese waitress who prepares Western food for homesick backpackers; a German hunk whose kindness matches his considerable romantic appeal; and a Canadian nurse who rallies to her aid at her time of greatest need. As compelling as the people she meets is her take on the country itself. The picture she paints of 1980s post-Kissinger China is rich and textured, frequently rendered with delicious irony and dark humor. The bravado with which she handles various encounters with Chinese culture, cuisine and government authorities is both unnerving and astonishing. (Her description of a rural hospital should be an eye-opener for anyone who hasn't traveled in the Third World.) Part travelogue, part coming-of-age story, part memoir, this book is at once entertaining, revealing and insightful. As China's well-documented rise to industrial superpower inspires headlines (and dominates the U.S. national debt), this delightful, if occasional discomfiting book provides a vivid reminder of how far our largest creditor has come...and how impetuous, reckless and ultimately resourceful young people in dire circumstances can be.