Conjuring Tibet

Painter (Gifts of Age) aims to integrate observations about the fictive nature of Tibetan mythology with humanitarian concerns, but her travel anecdotes, personal reflections, imagined apocalyptic scenes and Eastern mystical concepts don't add up to a story with much forward thrust. The narrator, an American woman, goes to Tibet, accompanied by a Tibetan refugee and a Chinese translator. They're in search of the Khandro, a Tibetan holy woman with miraculous powers. The journey is dusty and uncomfortable; the notebook goes astray; and the Khandro, when found, isn't forthcoming with prophecies. Interrupting the non-events of the main narrative are sketches for a novel set in the future, when an international group consisting of a Mother Theresa figure and other archetypal characters attempts the liberation of Tibet. Painter condemns the Chinese regime's deforestation, dumping of nuclear waste and oppression of Tibetans, but a straightforward nonfiction treatment might have worked better to inform and outrage readers. Meanwhile, as an escapist vehicle, the book doesn't transport one very far. Despite allusions to Shambhala and Shangri-la, a magical kingdom doesn't rise from the bricks of the workaday prose. (Nov.)