Synopses & Reviews
One of the most acclaimed travel writers of our time turns his unflinching eye on an American South too often overlooked .
Paul Theroux has spent fifty years crossing the globe, adventuring in the exotic, seeking the rich history and folklore of the far away. Now, for the first time, in his tenth travel book, Theroux explores a piece of America — the Deep South. He finds there a paradoxical place, full of incomparable music, unparalleled cuisine, and yet also some of the nation’s worst schools, housing, and unemployment rates. It’s these parts of the South, so often ignored, that have caught Theroux’s keen traveler’s eye.
On road trips spanning four seasons, wending along rural highways, Theroux visits gun shows and small-town churches, laborers in Arkansas, and parts of Mississippi where they still call the farm up the road "the plantation." He talks to mayors and social workers, writers and reverends, the working poor and farming families — the unsung heroes of the south, the people who, despite it all, never left, and also those who returned home to rebuild a place they could never live without.
From the writer whose "great mission has always been to transport us beyond that reading chair, to challenge himself — and thus, to challenge us" (Boston Globe), Deep South is an ode to a region, vivid and haunting, full of life and loss alike.
Review
"A generation of travel writers owes a debt to Theroux’s immersive, first-person narratives, captured with unflinching, sometimes merciless candor." New York Times Book Review
Review
"As thoughtful as it is evocative, the book offers insight into a significant region and its people and customs. An epically compelling travel memoir." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Free of the sense of alienation that marked his recent travelogues, this luminous sojourn is Theroux's best outing in years." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Synopsis
"Theroux's eye for landscape remains as sharp as ever . . . It's Theroux's remarkable gift for getting strangers to reveal themselves that makes going along for this ride worthwhile." -- New York Times Book Review
Paul Theroux has spent the past fifty years roaming the globe, describing his encounters with remote people and far-flung places in ten best-selling travel books. Now, for the first time, he explores a part of America--the Deep South. Setting out on a winding road trip, Theroux discovers a region of architectural and artistic wonders, incomparable music, mouth-watering cuisine--and also some of the worst schools, medical care, housing, and unemployment rates in the nation.
Yet, no matter where he goes, Theroux meets the unsung heroes of the South, the people who, despite it all, never left, and also those who found their way home and devoted their lives to rebuilding a place they could never live without.
"Paul Theroux's latest travel memoir had me at hello . . . Theroux pulls no punches in his quest to understand this overlooked margin of American life." -- Boston Globe
"A vivid contemporary portrait of rural life . . . a deeply affecting personal account." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution
About the Author
Paul Theroux's highly acclaimed novels include Blinding Light, Hotel Honolulu, My Other Life, Kowloon Tong, and The Mosquito Coast. His travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Dark Star Safari, Riding the Iron Rooster, The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, and The Happy Isles of Oceania. He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.