The rumour of Calcutta Book

Was super excited to read this book as it covers so many topics I love (tourism, charity, Calcutta...) yet it was seriously disappointing. It became so overtly theoretical I felt I learned nothing new about the specific topic at hand or the specific contours of life for tourists/charity volunteers in Calcutta in the 90s. If you already understand the basic premise (images/representations of Calcutta have a colonial history and charity does not target problems that stem from economic structures) you will learn nothing new. The irony of a book criticizing the volunteers for not engaging with the language, history, and context of Calcutta while also not engaging with the language, history, and specific context of Calcutta seems lost on the author. Also seems to ignore all "travel" that does not easily fall within some sort of colonialist binary. Did not read the final chapter on cinema because I was so annoyed with the constant theory and grandiose posturing of the author.

That said, a few quotes I liked:
"Part of my outrage here is fear that this book is not all that different. Anthropologists have long since traded tobacco, blankets, beads, money, and solidarity for stories. Who should I be paying?" 149

"tourists hardly ever need to reflect seriously on a predicament as voyeurs; or, when there is a chance to do so, there is always the safety net of cynicism and apathy which is even part of the fashionable post-tourism pose. No need to act--except, perhaps, to point out how I, like every other individual so not act like all the other tourists and travellers. Just how is it that almost every tourist seems to claim to be different in such similar ways?" 150