The world's most acclaimed travel writer journeys through western Africa from Cape Town to the Congo.

Starting with a rush-hour subway ride to South Station in Boston to catch the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, Theroux winds up on the poky, wandering Old Patagonian Express steam engine, which comes to a halt in a desolate land of cracked hills and thorn bushes. But with Theroux the view along the way is what matters: the monologuing Mr. Thornberry in Costa Rica, the bogus priest of Cali, and the blind Jorge Luis Borges, who delights in having Theroux...

Beginning in New Zealand and coming to shore in Hawaii, the author explores fifty-one islands along the way in a collapsible kayak.

Counter Paul Theroux invites us to join him on the journey of a lifetime, in the grand romantic tradition, by train across Europe, through the vast underbelly of Asia into the heart of Russia, and then up to China. Here is China by rail (the Iron Rooster is the name of a train), as seen and heard through the eyes and ears of one of the most intrepid and insightful travel writers of our time.

"A delectable collection of Theroux's recent writing on great places, people, and prose"--

The acclaimed writer shares an intimate portrait of his former mentor V.S. Naipaul in this memoir of their thirty-year friendship and sudden falling out. Paul Theroux was a young aspiring writer when he met the legendary V.S. Naipaul in Uganda in 1966. There began a friendship that would span continents as both men ascended the ranks of literary stardom. Naipaul's early encouragement of Theroux's talent had a profound impact on him-yet the apprenticeship...

Reports on the author's journey along the coasts of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Travel writer Theroux is in western Africa, where along the course of a 2,500-mile journey he travels from Cape Town through South Africa, Namibia, and beyond--capturing the flavor of his interaction with both land and people as only he can.