What am I Doing Here - Bruce Chatwin

This is another book I read for a book group I attend. I had a vague knowledge of the author, Bruce Chatwin as a legendary travel writer. I suspect this was rushed out following his death from AIDS.

It is really a collection of articles, and I don't think they can described as travel writing. There are pieces about art, various people he met on his travels (unfortunately several I'd never heard of), straightforward reportage, and things about ideas and anthropology.

If these had appeared severally and separately in magazines, I probably wouldn't have bothered to finish quite a few of them. They are quirky and pretentious, eccentric and self-indulgent at times. However, they are very readable, and although at times he seems to have no idea where he's going with his argument or point, there are some gems in this collection. There is an interview with Indira Ghandi that is fascinating, and another about a murder in Marseilles that is worth buying the book for. It is too patchy though so I'm only going to rate this 6/10