Less travel book and more reportage as Theroux engages with the problems of race in America’s south. There’s real insight into the systemic problems that mean many poor families struggle to survive. Theroux talks to farmers, social workers, pastors and authors – all the while debunking some of the myths of the south. Anyone interested… Read More
Category: Paul Theroux
This book is simply magnificent. All of Theroux’s travel books that I’ve read have been engaging, but this one stands out above the rest for me. The premise here is simple: Theroux wants to travel overland through Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town. The cultural, geographical, and political contrasts he experiences are all brought to… Read More
Theroux exports his acerbic wit to the Mediterranean for this reconstruction of the Grand Tour. It is pointless berating him – as many do – for his constant criticism and disparaging remarks. What is more remarkable in this book is the contrasts he throws up, both in his own writing – the tone of which… Read More
This is one of Theroux’s odder travel books. The spectre of separation from his wife haunts the narrative as the veteran travel writer sets off to paddle the Pacific. Not, mercifully, in a Thor Heyerdahl non-stop-adventure kind of a way, but in a more relaxed pottering-around-the-islands sort of way. It is a difficult book to… Read More
Theroux on a train – nothing original there. This is the second of his railway epics, and was many people’s introduction to the irrasicble American. From his home in Boston all the way down to Patagonia, Theroux undertakes the ultimate American (rail)road trip, and brings us all along for the ride. The narrative really picks… Read More
Originally published in 1977, this is the first of Theroux’s travel books and it remains one of the best. This is a book about transport as much as travel: the train is the inspiration, the destinations almost an inconvenience. Theroux takes a circular ride from London via Iran, India, south-east Asia, Japan and Russia. The… Read More