"Fieldwork" by Mischa Berlinski

This highly-praised book I think receives its plaudits because of the youth of its author and because it's his first foray. Its descriptions and characterizations pass basic muster, I suppose, but it relies on sexual taboo to force the narrative forward. There just wasn't enough energy in that aspect of the plot, for me.

An anthropologist falls in love with a native Thai man and their sex relates to the rice-planting cycle. A Christian missionary comes along and converts the native man, (killjoy!) who in turn turns his back on the anthropologist. Of course, the anthropologist completes the cycle by killing the missionary.

This is not a bad read, but it is one of those inexplicably praised pieces that I just shake my head over. It's an average narrative that takes a Christian missionary to task for spreading the fetid faith. Perhaps that's why all the hubbub. Anyway, for my two cents, you're better off elsewhere.