Don't read his books for information on the best hotel in such-and-such town, but read them for the observations of people, and the delightful digressions.Troost's itinerary in China included the Protestant Cemetery in Macau:[return][return]"This is because the finest writer in the English language is Patrick O'Brian, the author of 'Master and Commander' and the nineteen books that followed chronicling the naval adventures of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin during the Napoleonic Era. Those books are like crack for me, and whenever i read them -- and I have read them thrice -- I depart this world for the HMS Surprise and a world of intrigue and adventure. Indeed, I am such a fan that my youngest son's middle name is Aubrey. It's a great thing being a parent, to have these little people to mold. They are canvases upon which to bestow your own whims and ambitions. 'You carry the name of Jack Aubrey, Post-Captain of the HMS Surprise,' I tell my one-year-old. 'Do you think that Jack Aubrey refused his peas and scorned his applesauce?'"