Glenda's Reviews > Red Dust: A Path Through China

I love a good travelogue.  I don't care where in the world it takes me, I love reading about local culture, the author's thoughts, struggles, and joys......

This book, well, did not make me happy, intrigued, or even mildly interested.

It's never a good sign when it takes me over two months to read a 300 page book, especially in a genre that I enjoy.  While Red Dust offered some glimpses into early to mid 1980's Chinese culture and turmoil, that was all they were, mere glimpses.  Instead, I learned way too much about the author not being able to keep his dick in his pants, how he has little respect for hard working people in the middle of nowhere....basically, the author comes across as an arrogant ass who traveled around for three years and didn't really give a shit about any of it.  Yes, three years of traveling around China and we get a self-absorbed narrative that doesn't really focus on anything.  The writing was at best disjointed and random.  I won't even blame translation issues on this, it was just poorly written and not meant to be the so-called travelogue it claims to be.   Too bad, there was some potential with the idea but very poorly executed.