Paul Theroux Livres

Exploring complex themes, this collection of short stories delves into the intricacies of human relationships and societal issues. It addresses the challenges of a failing marriage, the hidden prejudices of a troubled poet, and the late-blooming guilt experienced by a Hindu character. Each narrative is infused with keen observations and sharp wit, offering readers a captivating glimpse into diverse emotional landscapes and moral dilemmas.

In this journey, Paul Theroux embarks on an adventurous trek from Cape Town, exploring South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana before venturing into Angola and aiming for the Congo. His quest is not just geographical but also a search for deeper insights and experiences as he navigates diverse landscapes and cultures, reflecting on the complexities of the regions he traverses.

This year's selection includes William Langewiesche's probing investigation in Vanity Fair of the slaughter of twenty-four Iraqis in Haditha; C. J. Chivers's chilling account in Esquire of the 2004 hostage crisis in Beslan, which killed 331 people, 186 of them children; Susan Casey's revelation in Best Life of a virtually unknown, Texas-sized garbage dump resting at the bottom of the Pacific ocean; and Andrew Corsello's harrowing portrait in GQ of Robert Mugabe's mad rule and two men-a white farmer and a fiery black priest-who strive for forgiveness instead of hate. The collection also includes Vanessa Grigoriadis's hilarious portrait of fashion icon Karl Lagerfeld in New York Magazine; Christopher Hitchens's profile of survivors of Agent Orange in Vanity Fair; Sandra Tsing Loh's coverage of the stay-at-home-mommy debate in the Atlantic Monthly; Paul Theroux's thoughts on the dangers of anthropomorphism and our misconceptions about birds in the Smithsonian; Janet Reitman's unraveling of the mysteries of Scientology in Rolling Stone; and the work of nine other exceptional writers.

In Safely Gathered In, Sarah Schofield probes at the heart of what forms us and what we, in turn, form. The stories collected here expose the spaces that words often fail to reach and examine how objects - both manmade and natural - can reflect the darkest manifestations of grief and disconnection.

Describes the author's travels by train in every province of the People's Republic of China.

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 and unparalleled cuisine, 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 traveller's eye. On road trips spanning four seasons, wending along rural highways, Theroux visits gun shows and small-town churches, labourers 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, 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 Southis an ode to a region, vivid and haunting, full of life and loss alike.

In this title, Paul Theroux sets off for Cape Town from Cairo - the hard way.

Gathers British stories about India by Kipling, Orwell, and others, that illustrate changing English attitudes

Written in his distinctive and evocative style, Paul Theroux's Fresh-Air Fiend is a collection of his short travel writing from 1985 through 2000. From Hong Kong to Honolulu, through China and the USA, Theroux throws new light on both familiar territories and unknown corners of the earth.

At the gateway to the Mediterranean lie the two Pillars of Hercules: Gibraltar and Ceuta, in Morocco. Paul Theroux decided to travel from one to the other taking the long way round. He travels by a dilapidated taxi, smoke-filled bus, bicycle and even a cruise-liner. This eventful tour aims to evoke the essence of Mediterranean life.

Beginning his journey in Boston, where he boarded the subway commuter train, Paul Theroux travelled the length of North and South America, to his destination in Patagonia. In this book he vividly evokes the contrasts of his journey.

One of the world's premier travel writers launches his most exotic and tantalizing adventure yet, as he kayaks the shimmering Pacific, exploring the islands, and taking up residence to discover the secrets of these happy isles.

Ali Khan and Nino Kipiani live in the cosmopolitan, oil-rich capital of Azerbaijan which, at the beginning of the twentieth century, is a melting-pot of different cultures. Ali is a Muslim, with his ancestors' passion for the desert, and Nino is a Christian Georgian girl with sophisticated European ways. Despite their differences, the two have loved each other since childhood and Ali is determined that he will marry Nino as soon as she leaves school. But there is not only the obstacle of their different religions and parental consent to overcome. The First World War breaks out. As the Russians withdraw, the Turks advance, and Ali and Nino find themselves swept up in Azerbaijan's fight for independence.

Calvin Mullett of Homemakers' Mutual Insurance is taken prisoner by Marais, a messianic white revolutionary in a tiny Central African republic. Unable to sell a policy to Marais, Calvin joins Marais' merry band of mercenaries--until a fictious diary is stolen, and he is drawn into an explosion of violence. An audacious novel from the author of Riding the Iron Rooster.

The book is a travelogue by American novelist Paul Theroux. It recounts Theroux's four-month journey by train in 1973 from London through Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and his return via the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Legendary travel writer Paul Theroux drives the entire length of the USMexico border, then goes deep into the hinterland, on the back roads of Chiapas and Oaxaca, to uncover the rich, layered world behind today's brutal headlines.

Un couple d'Américains, Port et Kit Moresly, en compagnie de leur ami Tuner, parcourent l'Afrique du nord, de la côte au Sahara. Les Moresly, bien que mariés depuis onze ans, est loin de s'entendre. Au cours du voyage, Kit a une brève aventure avec Tuner ; mais cette femme tourmentée n'en retire qu'un complexe de culpabilité supplémentaire. Port ;Sur ces entrefaites, meurt de la fièvre typhoïde. Kit se sent responsable de cette mort. Elle fuit devant son passé. Une caravane l'emporte vers Dakar. La jeune femme, saisie d'une espèce de délire sensuel, découvre l'amour charnel avec un jeune Arabe, puis avec un Noir qu'elle se met à aimer éperdument. Peu à peu, son esprit se détraque. Elle est fascinée par l'Afrique, sa prodigalité et son pourrissement, sa vitalité et sa décadence. C'est ce qu'exprime la dérision du titre qui parodie Fromentin.Il y a chez Paul Boyle quelque chose de D.H. Lawrence dans l'humanité des personnages, leur parfaite solitude, leur malaise intérieur. Avec, en plus, une compréhension aiguë de l'Afrique

Fired by a fascination with trains that stemmed from childhood, Paul Theroux set out one day with the intention of boarding every train from Victoria Station in London to Tokyo Central. This book tells his story.

Exploring the darker facets of human nature, this collection of stories features characters grappling with compulsive desires and unsettling transformations. From a patriarch who becomes a minstrel show star to an art collector's public destruction of his masterpieces, Theroux's narratives are rich with detail and idiosyncrasies. Each tale serves as a snapshot of a world both observed and invented, showcasing the author's signature dark humor and keen insight into the human condition.

Paul Theroux is celebrated as one of the finest travel writers in English, and this collection enhances that reputation. He explores isolated and fascinating locations, creating an elegy that immerses readers in the journey. His evocative and breathtaking prose serves as an armchair traveler's guide to the world, making distant places feel familiar. Praise for the collection highlights its narrative quality, with one review noting it "reads like a wonderful novel." Another emphasizes the powerful insights into Theroux's mind as a prominent American fiction writer turned traveler. Readers accompany him as he shares unique experiences, such as conversing with a sultan in Malaysia, witnessing poignant rituals in a Singapore cemetery, feeling out of place among nudists in Corsica, and observing the remnants of war in Vietnam. Theroux's travel writing is described as the best in the genre, with his keen eye for overlooked details and a skeptic's ear for significant comments. As readers journey with him through the vast landscapes of China, the diverse cultures of Latin America, and quirky English seaside towns, they are captivated by his distinctive perspective and storytelling ability.

A book that chronicles bestselling author's long friendship with writer from its beginning to untimely end with both funny and moving moments and stark honesty.

A fictionalized autobiography of a travel writer. There are descriptions of his experiences as a teacher of English in an African village, his meeting with the writer, Anthony Burgess, and his encounter with Queen Elizabeth of England.

Set in Asia, Africa, eastern Europe, Russian--and even Boston--the stories in Sinning with Annie are vintage Theroux, a wry and witty collection of stories that eloquently express the joys and pains of the human experience.

In a breathtaking adventure story, the paranoid and brilliant inventor Allie Fox takes his family to live in the Honduran jungle, determined to build a civilization better than the one they've left. Fleeing from an America he sees as mired in materialism and conformity, he hopes to rediscover a purer life. But his utopian experiment takes a dark turn when his obsessions lead the family toward unimaginable danger.

The journeys of Paul Theroux take place not only in exotic, unexpected places of the world but in the thoughts, reading, and emotions of the writer himself. A gathering of people, places, and ideas in fifty glittering pieces of gold.

Strange and entertaining encounters while travelling through India by Train.This extract is taken from Paul Theroux's book 'The Great Railway Bazaar'.

From renowned author Paul Theroux comes a fascinating, atmospheric novel inspired by George Orwell's years in Burma There is a short period in everyone's life when his character is fixed forever . . . ' George Orwell Eric Blair stood out amongst his fellow police trainees in 1920s Burma. Nineteen years old, unusually tall, a diffident loner fresh from Eton, after five years spent in the narrow colonial world of the Raj - a decaying system steeped in overt racism and petty class-conflict - he would emerge as the George Orwell we know. Drawing on all his powers of observation and imagination, Paul Theroux brings Orwell's Burma years to radiant life, tracing the development of the young man's consciousness as he confronts the social, racial and class politics and the reality of Burma beyond. Through one writer, we come to understand another - and see how what Orwell called 'five boring years within the sound of bugles' were in fact the years that made him. 'Always a terrific teller of tales and conjurer of exotic locales' Sunday Times 'The most gifted, most prodigal writer of his generation' Jonathan Raban

This year's collection of travel writing highlights adventurous and daring experiences in destinations that many might avoid. Featuring engaging dispatches from various authors, the volume showcases the thrill of exploring unconventional locales, offering readers a glimpse into the allure of places that inspire both fascination and trepidation. The narratives invite travel enthusiasts to reconsider their own travel preferences, celebrating the adventurous spirit of those who venture into the unknown.

Tales of Scott and Zelda roadtripping, finally back in print In an early series of journalistic pieces for Motor magazine, F. Scott Fitzgerald described a journey he took with his wife Zelda from Connecticut to Alabama in a clapped out automobile which he called the "Rolling Junk." It is a piece of writing whose style, in free-ranging alternation of fact and fiction, has been compared to Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat . This book collects together the articles as one text, illustrated with the original illustrations of Fitzgerald, Zelda, and the "Junk."

Twins who hated each other from childhood are separated for years. Then George appears on Gerald's doorstep, stays for a week and drops dead. Finding that his brother had been impersonating a society doctor, Gerald is drawn into a world of bogus medicine, discarded mistresses and lethal drugs.

An account of Theroux's 1979 trip down the Yangtze river at a time when hard-line Maoists were in power. Theroux observes China's towns, cliffs, rapids, shrines and people, as well as the relationship between his fellow travellers, American tourists, and the Chinese. He concludes that in this country, things may never get better than they already are, and sees it as a country that may hold clues to the possible future of mankind.

A master of the travel narrative gives us three intertwined novellas of Westerners transformed by their sojourns in India. This startling and satisfying book captures the tumult, ambition, hardship, and serenity that mark today’s India. Paul Theroux’s characters risk venturing far beyond the subcontinent’s well-worn paths to discover woe or truth or peace. A middle-aged couple on vacation veers heedlessly from idyll to chaos. A buttoned-up Boston lawyer finds succour in Mumbai’s reeking slums. And a young woman befriends an elephant in Bangalore. In these pages, we also meet Indian characters as singular as they are indicative of the country’s subtle ironies: an executive who yearns to become a holy beggar, an earnest young striver whose personality is rewired by acquiring an American accent, a miracle-working guru, and more. As ever, Theroux’s portraits of people and places explode stereotypes to exhilarating effect. The Elephanta Suite urges us toward a fresh, compelling, and often inspiring notion of what India is, and what it can do to those who try to lose — or find — themselves there. From the Hardcover edition.

Spencer Savage, a young American consul, is posted to Ayer Hitam, a small Malaysian town, in the 1970s. Told to close down this remote outpost in the sweltering jungle, he instead finds himself drawn to the many characters he meets among the Malays, Indians, Japanese, Chinese and the clubbable expat Brits.

World-famous photographer Maude Coffin Pratt has pointed her lens at the beautiful, obscure, and obscene, and at the private places and public parts of the famous, from Gertrude Stein to Graham Greene. When the seventy-year-old Maude rummages through her archives in preparation for a triumphant retrospective, the resurrected images unleash a flood of suppressed memories--of her extraordinary life, her celebrated subjects, and the dark, painful secret at the core of her existence.Theroux's "superbly crafted, elegantly controlled novel" (Washington Post Book Review)"Vibrant and compelling...Paul Theroux at his satirical best." --Anne Tyler, The New York Times Book Review"Profound and effective, not to mention entertaining.. . . For all the peculiar brilliance of its surface, Picture Palace is a novel whose depths you can drown in.. . . Absolutely brilliant." --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times"Dazzling. . . audacious. . . altogether captivating." --The Philadelphia Inquirer

Allie Fox hates the United States and he hates the twentieth century. He takes his wife and children to the jungle in Honduras to find a new, simpler way of living. But things go wrong, and their lives become much worse and more frightening than anything back home

A collection of writings from Paul Theroux's fifty years of travel. Included are writings from other travelers such as Charles Dickens, Eudora Welty, Anton Chekhov, Ernest Hemingway and many others.

From the bestselling novelist, travel writer, and "master of the short story" (NPR) comes a brilliant new collection. The stories in The Vanishing Point are both exotic and domestic, their settings ranging from Hawaii to Africa and New England. Each focuses on life's vanishing points--a moment when seemingly all lines running through one's life converge, and one can see no farther, yet must deal with the implications. With the insight, subtlety, and empathy that has long characterized his work, Theroux has written deeply moving stories about memory, longing, and the passing of time, reclaiming his status, once again, as a master of the form. 'The most gifted, most prodigal writer of his generation' Jonathan Raban 'The most exciting contemporary practitioner of a literary tradition honed to elegantly crafted terseness by Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene. A terrific teller of tales and conjurer of exotic locales' Sunday Times

From renowned writer Paul Theroux comes a dazzling novel following a big-wave surfer in Hawaii as he confronts ageing, privilege, mortality, and whose lives we choose to remember 'It was as if in surfing he was carving his name in water, invisibly, joyously.' Joe Sharkey knows he is passed his prime. Now in his sixties, the younger surfers around the breaks on the north shore of Oahu still revere him as the once-legendary 'Shark', but his sponsors have moved on, and Joe wonders what new future awaits him on the horizon. Uninterrupted quality time with the ocean, he hopes. Life has other plans. When he accidentally hits and kills a man near Waimea while drunk-driving, he fears he will never rebound. Under the direction of his stubbornly loyal girlfriend Olive, he throws himself into uncovering his victim's story. But what they find in Max Mulgrave is entirely unexpected: a shared history - and refuge in the sea. Set on the stunning Hawaiian coast, Theroux captures the glory and nostalgia of looking back at a rich and adventurous past, whilst learning to ride out life's next unexpected wave. 'There is very little that Paul Theroux cannot fit onto a page. His writing skills are disciplined and muscular, his ear as finely tuned as a musician's, his eye sharper than any razor, and, in pinpointing the bizarre and the unexpected, he both entertains and underlines the absurdity of humans' Daily Mail

Since its discovery by Magellan in 1520, Patagonia was known as a country of black fogs and whirlwinds at the end of the inhabited world. It immediately lodged itself in the imagination as a metaphor for "the ultimate", the point beyond which one could not go. In this book, Chatwin and Theroux join forces to explores the instances in which the "final capes of exile" have affected the literary imagination, and to track down some of the extraordinary travellers, past and present, from W.H. Hudson, to Captain Joshua Slocum and Butch Cassidy. Paul Theroux has won the Whitbread Literary Award. This book had its origins in an entertainment the writers gave for The Royal Geographical Society, at a time when Theroux was following Chatwin's "In Patagonia" with "The Old Patagonian Express".

A former American consul joins the disparate members of a group of London terrorists in their murderous activities throughout the city.

World's end -- Zombies -- The imperial icehouse -- Yard sale -- Algebra -- The English adventure -- After the war -- Words are deeds -- White lies -- Clapham Junction -- The odd-job man -- Portrait of a lady -- Volunteer speaker -- The greenest island.

After eleven years as an American living in London, the renowned travel writer Paul Theroux set out to travel clockwise around the coast of Great Britain to find out what the British were really like. The result is this perceptive, hilarious record of the journey. Whether in Cornwall or Wales, Ulster or Scotland, the people he encountered along the way revealed far more of themselves than they perhaps intended to display to a stranger. Theroux captured their rich and varied conversational commentary with caustic wit and penetrating insight.

En udbrændt forfatter på 49 år tager til Hawaii for at lade op igen, og inden for et år er han blevet bestyrer af et lurvet hotel, hvor han støder på forskellige mennesker, hvis skæbner der fortælles om i korte kapitler

Brilliantly depicts characters in pinpoint prickly prose Guardian

There's sibling rivalry and then there's the relationship of brothers Cal and Frank Belanger. Enemies since childhood, the small town of Littleford just isn't big enough to hold them both. So, Cal strikes out for the world's wild places - a gifted geologist in search of gold and other precious minerals - leaving Frank to develop a successful career as the town's lawyer, fixer and local hero. But when Cal, newly rich and newlywed, returns to the town of his birth, Frank gives him the opposite of a brotherly welcome, leading to a series of betrayals and reprisals culminating in the ultimate plan- murder. A riveting tale of adventure, betrayal and the true cost of family bonds, The Bad Angel Brothers is a remarkable novel from one of American's most distinctive writers.

Paul Theroux’s enthralling new novel opens with a unique New Year’s Eve party: eight wealthy New Yorkers take their private rotors for a picnic in the contaminated O-Zone, the Ozark region affected by nuclear waste. As Owners, they bypass quarantine, captivated by the O-Zone’s “gloomy beauty.” Their lives take a dramatic turn when they encounter a group of aliens during their return to Manhattan. This meeting leads to profound changes: one picnicker embarks on a love affair with a free-spirited young woman, inspired by a single photograph. A brilliant but reclusive fifteen-year-old is kidnapped and struggles in the wilderness. Another becomes increasingly ruthless as a gunship vigilante. A woman embarks on an erotic journey to reconnect with a past lover, while her distant husband plots to control the O-Zone. These narratives unfold across New York, Africa’s luxurious enclaves, and California’s devastated landscapes, all centered in the beautiful yet menacing Zone. The story reflects a world shaped not by nuclear war but by the relentless realities of modern life, from the Third World to Times Square. Amid despair and chaos, the human spirit—resilient, inventive, and loving—endures. With its sweeping narrative and sharp insights, this novel delivers powerful storytelling in a grand tradition.

From the best-selling author of Dark Star Safari and Hotel Honolulu, Paul Theroux's latest offers provocative tales of memory and desire. The sensual story of an unusual love affair leads the collection. The thrill and risk of pursuit and conquest mark the accompanying stories, which tell of the sexual awakening and rites of passage of a Boston boyhood, the ruin of a writer in Africa, and the bewitchment of a retiree in Hawaii. Filled with Theroux's typically exquisite yet devastating descriptions of people and places, The Stranger at the Palazzo D'Oro evokes "the complexities of matters of the heart with subtlety and grace" (People).

He knifes silently through the shadows of the steamy Chicago summer night, prowling for lonely souls who need his help. The desperate come to him, answering his ads with promises of romantic evenings and possibly a future, never suspecting that they are the prey, chosen to satiate a twisted sexual desire. Parker Jagoda is also a successful businessman with a wife, a child, and a house in the suburbs--respectable, health-conscious, and polite. Nobody knows about his jagged double life, his dark, hungry obsessions. He has fooled everyone except those who gasp their last dying scream. And, of course, he has not fooled himself - which may be the only glimmer of hope left inside the darkest of hearts....

The author embarks on a journey downriver in a remote province of Ecuador, where he discovers a miracle drug that causes temporary blindness. Upon returning to the USA, he feels rejuvenated, gaining the ability to write, remember, and experience an uncanny prescience.

But men were a different matter. Men admired - and wanted - her for her striking good looks and ability to please. She despised most of them, but she needed their money; and London had to offer more to a pretty American than a cold, uncomfortable Brixton flat.

A reign of terror begins for Alfred and Emma Munday when they take their failing marriage to the solace of an old country house.There, in the peace and quiet of the Dorset countryside, a strange and beautiful apparition enters their life, disrupts it…creates a fatal triangle of fear, fantasy and eroticism.

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A celebration of the timeless act of reading - as seen through the lens of one of the world's most beloved photographers Young or old, rich or poor, engaged in the sacred or the secular, people everywhere read. This homage to the beauty and seductiveness of reading brings together a collection of photographs taken by Steve McCurry over his nearly four decades of travel and is introduced by award-winning writer, Paul Theroux. McCurry's mesmerizing images of the universal human act of reading are an acknowledgement of - and a tribute to - the overwhelming power of the written word.

Van de Rio Negro naar Buenos Aires - Charles Darwin Goedenavond, mrs. Thys - Jan Brokken Drie maanden in de West - W. Wijnaendts Francken-Syserinck Paaseiland: voorbij de branding van Rapa Nui - Paul Theroux Kongo - Redmond O'Hanlon Filfla - Boudewijn Büch Het dorp van Ratu Dinges - Johnny Frisbie Bot Pippel - Linda Polman De Kakaanse seismograaf - Benno Barnard

Renowned travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux has been many places in his life and tried almost everything. But this trip in and around the lands of the Pacific may be his boldest, most fascinating yet. From New Zealand's rain forests, to crocodile-infested New Guinea, over isolated atolls, through dirty harbors, daring weather and coastlines, he travels by Kayak wherever the winds take him--and what he discovers is the world to explore and try to understand.

A volume of stories, featuring: Sinning With Annie; World's End; The Consul's File; and The London Embassy. The author's canvas stretches from London to South-East Asia, Boston to Paris and Africa to Eastern Europe, and the characters include colonials, children and students.

»Immer, wenn ich fedrig leichten Schnee langsam an einer Scheibe herunterrieseln sehe, der sich zu einem weißen Polster auf der Fensterbank türmt, und der Wind leise stöhnend durch eine Ritze in ein Zimmer drängt, wo Flammen im Kamin singen, muss ich an das Weihnachtsfest denken, an dem ich neun war, und an unser Haus in Indian Willows. Wir hatten uns verirrt.«Marcel, Louis und ihre Eltern wollen die Festtage zum ersten Mal in ihrem Ferienhaus am See verbringen, doch sie geraten in einen Schneesturm, und der Vater verfährt sich hoffnungslos im Wald. Endlich entdecken sie ein Haus, in dem noch Licht brennt. Ein eigenwilliger, alter Mann nimmt sie auf und verspricht, ihnen am nächsten Tag den Weg zu zeigen. Doch am Morgen ist der Mann fort. Aber er hat eine Weihnachtskarte hinterlassen, die sie zu ihrem Haus führen soll. Dass es sich dabei nicht um eine gewöhnliche Karte handelt, wissen nur Marcel …

Sammlung der jüngsten Essays des großen amerikanischen Autors: In seinen Reiseessays teilt er mit uns unerwartete, absolut nicht googelbare Einblicke in Länder wie Ecuador oder Simbabwe. In Theroux‘ Schriften zur Literatur blicken wir auf ungekannte Seiten vermeintlich bekannter großer Köpfe wie Graham Greene, Joseph Conrad und Henry David Thoreau ganz neu kennen. Schillernde Porträts lassen uns mit Elizabeth Taylor in einem Helikopter Kurs auf Michael Jacksons Neverland Ranch nehmen, mit Oliver Sacks surfen oder einer Domina in Manhattan bei ihrer tagtäglichen Arbeit begegnen. „An Theroux‘ Werk muss sich alle Reiseliteratur messen.“ The Observer

Verslag van een reis per trein van Massachusetts naar Patagonië.

Die tragikomische Geschichte eines weissen Versicherungsagenten im Dschungel der vom Bürgerkrieg geschüttelten Republik Malawi und seines Gegenspielers, des Rebellenführers Marais

Głębokie Południe Paula Theroux to świat, w którym historia żyje i ma się dobrze stosunki między czarnymi a białymi są wciąż napięte, pełne wzajemnych żalów i poczucia krzywdy: wielu zresztą wciąż pamięta czasy segregacji rasowej, a niektórzy twierdzą, że wcale się nie skończyły. Sercem wspólnoty jest tu lokalny kościół, ulubioną niedzielną rozrywką jarmark z bronią, którego uczestnicy zachowują się tak, jakby wojna secesyjna zakończyła się wczoraj. A wokół ciągną się pola bawełny, powoli wypieranej przez inne uprawy. Lecz choć Południe regularnie nawiedzają huragany, choć jest biedne, zacofane i popada w ruinę, równocześnie fascynuje muzyką, kuchnią, pogodą ducha i humorem. Theroux oburza się i pała gniewem, patrząc na nędzę i nierówności, ale podziwia wytrwałość i odwagę działaczy społecznych i zwykłych ludzi doświadczonych przez los. Jego opowieść ma też bohaterów drugoplanowych, znanych i mniej znanych kronikarzy Południa: Williama Faulknera, Mary Ward Brown, Marka Twaina, Carson McCullers, Tennessee Williamsa, którzy tak jak on próbowali zrozumieć i opisać fenomen tego świata.

Humorvoll beschreibt der Autor eine unkonventionelle Reise mit der Eisenbahn nach und durch China.