A review by p_t_b
Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads by Paul Theroux

3.0

conflicted about this one - theroux (or mr thorax, as he occasionally gets misnamed) comes off as a bit of a pill. he seems shocked, shocked that poor people sometimes live in ways that aren't quite what he's used to in (checks bio) cape cod and hawaii. he can come off as condescending and a little squicky about indian immigrants. he might need a reality check about how relevant faulkner is to most people's day to day existence. but he's also astute, sympathetic, observant, intrepid in the way only an rich old white man can be. he pushes a little too hard to trace patterns - i'm not sure what the arkansas delta and south carolina have in common, any more than like, chicago and new york do? i found myself irritated with him repeatedly but in the faintly endearing manner of friendship. i havent read any of his other books; i'm sure they have merits, as this one does. i plowed through all 500+ pages and never quite decided whether it was good. i've lived in the south long enough to have some reflexive defensiveness about it, but i was still interested to see the close-by/still-faraway parts of it from fresh eyes (greensboro, mary ward brown, etc). anyway probably not for you unless you really care about the idea of the south or paul theroux. PS i was shocked that his hair was dyed when i finally looked at the pictures.