I read the English translation of Mali Blues, which was originally written in Dutch. It's a modern and down-to-earth travelogue. I had a hunch it wouldn’t be outstanding, and, loose in structure, it does ramble a bit aimlessly. However, Joris' descriptions are detailed, vivid, and true. She spends time in Senegal and Mauritania, but the heart of the book is devoted to Mali, and the core of that trying to the enigmatic musician Boubacar Traore (Kar Kar). Once famous in Mali and Europe, he now lives a quiet life in a new Bamako neighborhood. He is at once worldly and provincial, holding onto traditional beliefs, knowing that Joris finds them ridiculous. She goes out of her way to meet interesting people in Mali, and nearly every one lives in this kind of cultural limbo, suspended between two worlds.