Roberta's Reviews > Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World

This was a book club selection otherwise I probably wouldn't have finished it.

I found it frustrating. Here is a writer in interesting parts of the world and what I mostly learn about is her. And it's not even that reflective or insightful. If you are going to talk about yourself, you need to make it interesting, not just a string of descriptions and anecdotes. I can't even begin to say how irritating I found her pious refelction that she couldn't interfere in a wife-beating incident, because she is an anthropologist, an observer. And all her bleating about poor starving children doesn't really make much of an impression when she does little or nothing about it.

I also found a, how can I put this?, smug, self congratulatoey tone to the book. It's not quite so daring to go haring off into the world when you have a guaranteed income (smallish but still!) and a portable career. The writer is pretty much able to indulge in flights home whenever. A privleged nomad indeed.

All that said, I did find some of her exploits interesting especially the hikes and the scuba diving lessons, although even here she comes up short in engaging me in what she sees and does.