I loved the breadth and brilliance of Rushdie's Midnight's Children, admired his clever, biting and sly Shame, was confused with the immature ramblings of Grimus and sympathised with the author's viewpoint in The Jaguar Smile. One of many anti-American books that seeks to cast doubt on American involvement on foreign soil in the name of political freedom (and capitalism, of course) this one is also somewhat of a travelogue and, occasionally, entertaining. As in almost all Rushdie books, the reader is assumed to be well-read and to be able to catch all the literary allusions which so amuse the author himself. If you are a Rushdie afficianado then you will love this book, otherwise you might find its greatest virtue is its brevity. ( )