Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Take him or leave him, Paul Theroux always brings out a lot of interesting emotions in his readers. With Deep South this is no different. In fact, it is probably even more evident. I would assume that most of his readers are American. This being a very "American" book, it is perhaps too close to home for some. I can see many Americans not liking this even if they have liked Theroux's previous works. After all, it is easy to read about the negative aspects of a far away land. It is far harder to read about the issues that face locations closer to home. I remember reading The Kingdom by the Sea, which chronicles Theroux's journey around Great Britain. In the first few pages he details his observations about this island. I was living in England while I read this and I thought it was the funniest, most accurate description of the British I had ever read. The insanity of a TV license, the general tone of the people, etc. I cannot remember everything. But I felt it was totally accurate. I read these pages to several of my English friends and they got extremely upset. They thought it was total hogwash. I think Deep South might elicit a similar response from American readers. I've read nearly every non-fiction book Theroux has ever written. I've seen him speak in London and I feel I know the man pretty well. As well as you can know an author. He is constantly getting nailed for being misanthropic. However, I don't believe that's him at all. Quite the contrary. After all, why would someone spend this much time traveling and meeting new people? Surely you don't do this if you hate humanity. I don't even like to talk to people when I'm on a long flight! What Theroux is good at is simply observing what is what and writing it down. That's all. If you're offended by the way Theroux nails the Southerners for not having a great vocabulary, or being poverty stricken... well, that's how he saw it. Take it or leave it. I know of many South Africans that didn't like Dark Star Safari and thought he was full of himself and didn't do the country any justice. Perhaps that's true. I don't know. But what I do know is that I love how Theroux tells the story of the Deep South through the people he meets. This is true in all of his books. He meets quite a few people along the way and he tells their story with a keen eye for detail. He then passes this detail on to us, the reader. He's the best in the business at doing this. I for one am a fan of Deep South. I think it tells a very accurate story of what the place is like and what it's people are like. I hope Mr. Theroux writes more books about America.