Deep South

*Starred Review* The idea that Theroux is one of the preeminent travel writers today needs neither proof nor explanation at this point in his distinguished career, but just in case some doubters do exist out there and raise their voices in objection to such an accolade, his latest travel memoir should quiet even the strongest of reservations. On several trips through the American South, a place Theroux admits he was unfamiliar with and thus knew little about, and as he eschewed visits to major cities and tourist attractions, choosing instead country roads (obviously also avoiding planes and airports), his experiences reinforced his conviction that the truest way to travel is the old way, the proud highway, the rolling road. His intended interviewees, the people he wanted to talk to and learn from about the nature of being a southerner, were the underclass. Who best would know what distinctive southern life was like than the submerged twenty percent. Contradictions abound in the South he explored, but just as those conflicts were the enticement for his repeated visits, they also represent the allure of this rigorous, poised, serious, and pulsing-with-life exploration of all aspects of the multisided American South. High-Demand Backstory: Theroux's books always appear on the best-seller list, and his latest may prove to be his most popular book yet.--Hooper, Brad Copyright 2015 Booklist

Travel writer Theroux (Ghost Train to the Eastern Star) finds the traveling easier and his insights more penetrating in this engrossing passage through the South. Celebrating the wonders of American driving-no more rattle-trap trains or jam-packed buses-the New England native recounts several road trips from South Carolina through Arkansas, circling back to revisit places and people in a way he couldn't on his treks across foreign continents. His relaxed schedule lets him forget the journey and, instead, immerse himself in destinations that seem both familiar and strange ("Jesus is lord-we buy and sell guns," reads a billboard). Avoiding tourist traps, Theroux seeks out gun shows, church services, seedy motels, and downscale diners such as Doe's Eat Place, in Greenville, Miss.; he insistently probes the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, and the appalling poverty of back-road towns abandoned by industry. All this emerges through vivid, novelistic reportage as he gently prods people for their stories, reveling in their musical dialects, mapping the intersections of personal experience and tragic history that give the South "a great overwhelming sadness that [he] couldn't fathom." Free of the sense of alienation that marked his recent travelogues, this luminous sojourn is Theroux's best outing in years. Color photos. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Theroux's (The Mosquito Coast; Ghost Train on the Eastern Star) title takes us on a trip to a part of the South few seek out. He avoids big cities such as Atlanta and New Orleans and heads to the Deep South: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, -Arkansas, Georgia, and South Carolina. The author visits, several times in some cases, a number of the poorest cities and communities in the nation. The result is a socially conscious travelog, with a good deal of Southern history thrown in, including literature, race relations, and economics. Theroux writes of the people he meets with sympathy and verve, and though many seem to fit Southern stereotypes, they still come across as genuine on the page. It's the people of the Deep South-from the frat boys and Southern preachers to African American farmers and local officials-working to save their small towns who bring this book to life. VERDICT A literary travelog that will interest readers of Southern history and literature and anyone with an interest in American urban history and the plight of the poor. [See Prepub Alert, 3/30/15.]-Sara Miller Rohan, Archive Librarian, Atlanta © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

An acclaimed travel writer and novelist's engrossing account of his journey through the Deep South. During his long, fruitful career, Theroux (Mr. Bones: Twenty Stories, 2014, etc.) has traveled to many exotic locations all over the world. Yet 50 years after he began as a travel writer, he was suddenly seized with a longing to travel through the hominess of the American South. Driving along rural highways and deliberately bypassing "buoyant cities and obvious pleasures," he sought out the sights and people that he believed would help him understand a remarkable but profoundly troubled region. The green landscapes of the Deep South still included tobacco and cotton fields, both of which stood as reminders of the "persistence of history." Even the many gun shows that Theroux visited seemed to recall the Old South's preoccupation with defending not only its soil, but also its values against incursions from the North. For African-Americans, churches still served as spaces of "focus and respite from a hostilemajority [white] culture." Memories of slavery and segregation even persisted in the geography, with whites living in the hills and mountains and blacks primarily inhabiting the agricultural flatlands. What stirred Theroux the most, however, was how so many of the places he observed resembled "what [was] often thought of as the Third World." Despite encounters with lingering racism and deeply entrenched social and economic problems, the author found a warm welcome almost everywhere he went. Everyonefrom barbers and welfare families to preachers and politiciansshowered him with kindness, generosity, and, more often than not, stories. Broken by history but rich in culture and spirit, the South that Theroux came to know was "a dream, with all a dream's distortions and satisfactions." As thoughtful as it is evocative, the book offers insight into a significant region and its people and customs. An epically compelling travel memoir. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* The idea that Theroux is one of the preeminent travel writers today needs neither proof nor explanation at this point in his distinguished career, but just in case some doubters do exist out there and raise their voices in objection to such an accolade, his latest travel memoir should quiet even the strongest of reservations. On several trips through the American South, a place Theroux admits he was unfamiliar with and thus knew little about, and as he eschewed visits to major cities and tourist attractions, choosing instead country roads (obviously also avoiding planes and airports), his experiences reinforced his conviction that the truest way to travel is the "old" way, "the proud highway, the rolling road." His intended "interviewees," the people he wanted to talk to and learn from about the nature of being a southerner, were the "underclass." Who best would know what distinctive southern life was like than the "submerged twenty percent." Contradictions abound in the South he explored, but just as those conflicts were the enticement for his repeated visits, they also represent the allure of this rigorous, poised, serious, and pulsing-with-life exploration of all aspects of the multisided American South. High-Demand Backstory: Theroux's books always appear on the best-seller list, and his latest may prove to be his most popular book yet. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

For 50 years, Theroux has famously reported on his travels to far-flung places from Kuala Lumpur to the Caucasus, but until now he's never written a travel book on America. Here's his take on motoring through the Deep South, visiting gun shows, little churches, and parts of Mississippi where some farms are still called plantations. For better or worse, he realizes, the past is still there.

Theroux's (The Mosquito Coast; Ghost Train on the Eastern Star) title takes us on a trip to a part of the South few seek out. He avoids big cities such as Atlanta and New Orleans and heads to the Deep South: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, and South Carolina. The author visits, several times in some cases, a number of the poorest cities and communities in the nation. The result is a socially conscious travelog, with a good deal of Southern history thrown in, including literature, race relations, and economics. Theroux writes of the people he meets with sympathy and verve, and though many seem to fit Southern stereotypes, they still come across as genuine on the page. It's the people of the Deep South—from the frat boys and Southern preachers to African American farmers and local officials—working to save their small towns who bring this book to life. VERDICT A literary travelog that will interest readers of Southern history and literature and anyone with an interest in American urban history and the plight of the poor. [See Prepub Alert, 3/30/15.]—Sara Miller Rohan, Archive Librarian, Atlanta

Travel writer Theroux (Ghost Train to the Eastern Star) finds the traveling easier and his insights more penetrating in this engrossing passage through the South. Celebrating the wonders of American driving—no more rattle-trap trains or jam-packed buses—the New England native recounts several road trips from South Carolina through Arkansas, circling back to revisit places and people in a way he couldn't on his treks across foreign continents. His relaxed schedule lets him forget the journey and, instead, immerse himself in destinations that seem both familiar and strange ("Jesus is lord—we buy and sell guns," reads a billboard). Avoiding tourist traps, Theroux seeks out gun shows, church services, seedy motels, and downscale diners such as Doe's Eat Place, in Greenville, Miss.; he insistently probes the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, and the appalling poverty of back-road towns abandoned by industry. All this emerges through vivid, novelistic reportage as he gently prods people for their stories, reveling in their musical dialects, mapping the intersections of personal experience and tragic history that give the South "a great overwhelming sadness that couldn't fathom." Free of the sense of alienation that marked his recent travelogues, this luminous sojourn is Theroux's best outing in years. Color photos. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Sept.)