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Margaret D. Williamson: Memoirs of a Political Officer's Wife in Tibet, Sikkim and Bhutan (1987, Wisdom Publications)

Margaret Marshall had known Frederick Williamson for much of her life but it wasn't until …

Ambien lit

Allow me to introduce the genre of "Ambien lit." For as long as I can remember, I've been an avid reader. I've also been a chronic insomniac. Years ago, a doctor prescribed me Ambien and I took one before picking up my bedtime read. The following night I started reading and realized I couldn't remember a goddamn word I read the night before. So if you're taking a sleep aid, want something to read, and retaining any of it is not a concern, have I got the book for you. This memoir is not exactly uninteresting. In fact, Margaret Williamson had entree into a world not many foreigners had access to and some of the photos are simply incredible. On the other hand, this is exactly what you would expect from the wife of a colonizing political appointee that can only see her side as the good guys. That the book ends with a list of artifacts that now reside in the Cambridge museum brings this memoir to the perfectly tone-deaf conclusion. An adequate choice if you care to read but don't care about retaining any of it. Sweet dreams.