SOURCE: West, Richard. “Cultural Confusion in the East.” Spectator 263, no. 8420 (11 November 1989): 54-5.

In the following review, West compliments Buruma's writing in God's Dust, though he acknowledges that he disagrees with “almost all Mr Buruma's views and opinions.”

Some four years ago, I read in the New York Review of Books an article on the Philippines of such originality and depth of understanding that I immediately wanted to know some more about its author, Ian Buruma. He turned out to be a young Dutch scholar of oriental languages who had already published what my informants called the best modern book on Japan, and now lived in Hong Kong. Having since read more of his articles, in The Spectator among other places, I waited eagerly for this new book [God's Dust] of travels in search of the character and cultural identity of Burma and Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore...