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Zusatztext "A portrait of an optimist with curiosity and affection for humanity in all its forms, as well as a ravenous appetite for the literary efforts of others . . . Theroux’s sweet spot happens to be spinning a convincing narrative through wandering conversations with any citizens who cross his path . . . Emotionally affective." — New York Times Book Review "Novelist and travel writer Theroux is at the top of his game with his third collection of essays, a magisterial grouping of intimate remembrances, globe-trotting adventures, and incisive literary critiques . . . A highly versatile, appealing writer, Theroux casts a wide net with pleasing and entertaining results." — Publishers Weekly, starred review “[Theroux’s] stories are less travelogues than well-curated meditations on some of the places, people, and moments he has experienced in a lifetime of rambles . . . His spare, unhurried prose style, which is rarely long-winded, betrays a novelist's relish for illuminating details and devastating turns of phrase . . . A masterfully simple and satisfying collection.” — Kirkus Reviews "Those who’ve missed these thirty pieces where previously published will be impressed by the breadth of his interests, the depth of his research, and the scrupulousness of his prose. A profile of Elizabeth Taylor . . . works a miracle, allowing us to view the icon with unjaded eyes. A lengthy profile of a dominatrix . . . offers genuine insight into both spanker and spanked. Appreciations of Conrad, Greene, Maugham, and Simenon show how book introductions ought to be done. And the closing, more personal pieces . . . add emotional heft and shape to this wide-ranging, thought-provoking, and eminently browsable collection." — Booklist "Theroux's observations are so keen and writerly skills so sharp that he butter-slices narratives with a razor-thin surgeon's scalpel, masterfully serving up both the world's dark underbelly and its gloriously uplifting sustenance of love, longing and wonder -lust." — Forbes " In short, there is something for everyone . . . His talky, big-hearted book will make a heavenly companion at the beach." — Honolulu Star-Advertiser " His new collection of essays, like its illustrious author, is full of surprises ." — Forbes.com Informationen zum Autor Paul Theroux is the author of many highly acclaimed books. His novels include Burma Sahib, The Bad Angel Brothers, The Lower River, Jungle Lovers, and The Mosquito Coast , and his renowned travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, On the Plain of Snakes, and Dark Star Safari . He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod. My Drug Tour: Searching for Ayahuasca When I first read The Yage Letters, William Burroughs’s cackling account of his drug search in Peru and down Colombia’s Río Putumayo to find what he referred to in Junky as the grail of psychotropics (“Yage may be the final fix”)—a trip in which he was rolled, robbed, starved, diverted, and endlessly bullshitted in his quest to find a high that towered way beyond your average stoner’s dreams of doobage—I closed the book and thought: I really must repeat his trip sometime. This was in the 1960s, when the book first appeared, to cries of execration by the usual hypocrites. The book is an encouragement to any prospective quester, and very funny, too. “In all my experience as a homosexual I have never been the victim of such idiotic pilfering,” he writes of a flirtation with a boy in Peru, then quickly adds, “Trouble is I share with the late Father Flanagan—he of Boys Town​—​the deep conviction that there is no such thing as a bad boy.” Yage is yajé, Banisteriopsis caapi : vine of the soul, secret nectar of ...
