Dennis James

The author and his wife travel some of the most remote and impoverished or war-torn peoples around the globe to, um, collect them? To be voyeurs? The descriptions of the people and the landscapes are well-written. But sadly the author tries to portray themselves as humanitarians but they are not—it feels more like they are collecting experiences. For example, they absolutely must speedwalk in a war-torn are much to the frustration of the guards trying to protect them. They are wealthy retired attorneys living the life in NYC but bemoan paying $75 to watch a wedding dance (performed for them in Mali as a tourist attraction—how the tribe earns money), but squabble that there are no other tourists to split it with. They are quite big-hearted and pay the full $75! Had they kept this as a travelogue it would have hugely succeeded. But the attempts to make themselves out to be saviors are so condescending to us the readers, who I suspect see right through it. I read this to learn more about the countries and I learned a lot about each place. But I was not happy about the side story about how high-minded the author and his wife are, because they aren’t.… (más)