Burma Sahib

'This novel is one of his finest in a long and redoubtable oeuvre' William Boyd, New York Times 
 
From renowned author Paul Theroux comes a fascinating, atmospheric novel inspired by George Orwell's years in Burma 
 
There is a short period in everyone's life when his character is fixed forever . . . ' George Orwell 
 
Eric Blair stood out amongst his fellow police trainees in 1920s Burma. Nineteen years old, unusually tall, a diffident loner fresh from Eton, after five years spent in the narrow colonial world of the Raj – a decaying system steeped in overt racism and petty class-conflict – he would emerge as the George Orwell we know. 
 
Drawing on all his powers of observation and imagination, Paul Theroux brings Orwell's Burma years to radiant life, tracing the development of the young man's consciousness as he confronts the social, racial and class politics and the reality of Burma beyond. Through one writer, we come to understand another - and see how what Orwell called 'five boring years within the sound of bugles' were in fact the years that made him. 
 
One of John Irving’s best books of the 21st century 
 
‘Thoroughly enjoyable . . . [Theroux’s] approach is like that of a skilful, subtle barrister who patiently lays out his evidence, gradually ensnaring the reader’ Times Literary Supplement 
 
'Always a terrific teller of tales and conjurer of exotic locales' Sunday Times 
 
'The most gifted, most prodigal writer of his generation' Jonathan Raban

Remarkable . . . Theroux, of course, has a parallel reputation as one of our greatest travel writers, and the Burma that he conjures in these pages is wonderfully present in lush and dense prose

Thoroughly engaging . . . Theroux is now in his eighties, and has written more than fifty books, but his writing is as potent as ever. A renowned travel writer, he recreates colonial Burma with loving accuracy, showing both its great beauty and the effects of its otherness on a homesick nineteen-year-old . . . meticulous and laudably authentic . . . [Theroux&rsquo;s] approach is like that of a skilful, subtle barrister who patiently lays out his evidence, gradually ensnaring the reader in the apprehension of how this might all have appeared to be necessary and acceptable . . . Burma Sahib is a work of profound relevance to the present day for the way in which it demonstrates how human beings become enslaved to systems, institutions and social codes

[An] ambitious dramatization . . . With piercing prose, Theroux lays bare the fraudulent and fiercely despotic nature of the British Empire. This brims with intelligence and vigor

Compelling. Theroux is always great with setting; here it&rsquo;s not just Burma but the mind of Orwell that he persuasively inhabits

Theroux&rsquo;s engrossing, suspenseful novel incisively maps the start of Blair&rsquo;s metamorphosis into George Orwell, resounding critic of malevolent power

Captivating . . . An engrossing story . . . Theroux, the accomplished travel writer, skillfully maps the lay of the land and transports his reader to one vividly depicted Burmese location after another . . . At the same time, Theroux, the adept novelist, ensures his reader is invested in his protagonist&rsquo;s journey &mdash; both his professional arc and his emotional trajectory

Theroux gives us something that Orwell couldn&rsquo;t: a sense of how current and relevant his concerns about imperialism remain from the viewpoint of the present . . . Theroux has woven a much bigger narrative around what we do know [about Orwell's time in Burma] and improvised imaginatively around the things we don&rsquo;t

A thoughtful, fully rounded portrait of a young man coming of age in a baroque, baffling and completely fascinating place and time. At aged 82, Theroux is still a curious, thrawn, uncompromising traveller and writer. Young Eric Blair would have admired that

Paul Theroux has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including the modern classics The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, My Secret History and The Mosquito Coast. He won the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing 2020. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands.

There is a short period in everyone's life when his character is fixed forever . . . ' George Orwell 
 
Eric Blair stood out amongst his fellow police trainees in 1920s Burma. Nineteen years old, unusually tall, a diffident loner fresh from Eton, after five years spent in the narrow colonial world of the Raj – a decaying system steeped in overt racism and petty class-conflict – he would emerge as the George Orwell we know. 
 
Drawing on all his powers of observation and imagination, Paul Theroux brings Orwell's Burma years to radiant life, tracing the development of the young man's consciousness as he confronts the social, racial and class politics and the reality of Burma beyond. Through one writer, we come to understand another - and see how what Orwell called 'five boring years within the sound of bugles' were in fact the years that made him.

The Bad Angel Brothers

A deliciously dark, atmospheric novel about family and brotherhood from one of America's most distinctive writers 
 
There's sibling rivalry and then there's the relationship of brothers Cal and Frank Belanger. 
 
Enemies since childhood, the small town of Littleford just isn't big enough to hold them both. So, Cal strikes out for the world's wild places - a gifted geologist in search of gold and other precious minerals - leaving Frank to develop a successful career as the town's lawyer, fixer and local hero. 
 
But when Cal, newly rich and newlywed, returns to the town of his birth, Frank gives him the opposite of a brotherly welcome, leading to a series of betrayals and reprisals culminating in the ultimate plan: murder. 
 
A riveting tale of adventure, betrayal and the true cost of family bonds, The Bad Angel Brothers is a remarkable novel from one of American's most distinctive writers. 
 
'Laden with jealousy, betrayal and a mythic lust for vengeance' The New York Times 
 
'One of the most accomplished and worldly-wise writers of his generation' The Times

A manic tale of sibling rivalry that owes its small town setting mostly to John Cheever, and its seething resentment mostly to William Shakespeare . . . at once maundering and intensely emotionally violent

Searing and memorable . . . Theroux plays skillfully on reader sympathies until the bitter end, showing how a man's beliefs can make him turn to violence

American master Paul Theroux delivers a chilling psychological novel in The Bad Angel Brothers

Watch the magician's hands: Theroux has some powerful twists in his hat, and the language and compelling prose with which to offer them into the spotlight

Theroux's prose is so rich, his perceptions so many-layered, he involves us in a world that extends well beyond the physical limits of his novel

Paul Theroux has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including the modern classics The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, My Secret History and The Mosquito Coast. He won the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing 2020. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands.

There's sibling rivalry and then there's the relationship of brothers Cal and Frank Belanger. 
 
Enemies since childhood, the small town of Littleford just isn't big enough to hold them both. So, Cal strikes out for the world's wild places - a gifted geologist in search of gold and other precious minerals - leaving Frank to develop a successful career as the town's lawyer, fixer and local hero. 
 
But when Cal, newly rich and newlywed, returns to the town of his birth, Frank gives him the opposite of a brotherly welcome, leading to a series of betrayals and reprisals culminating in the ultimate plan: murder. 
 
A riveting tale of adventure, betrayal and the true cost of family bonds, The Bad Angel Brothers is a remarkable novel from one of American's most distinctive writers.

Under the Wave at Waimea

From renowned writer Paul Theroux comes a dazzling novel following a big-wave surfer in Hawaii as he confronts ageing, privilege and mortality 
 
'It was as if in surfing he was carving his name in water, invisibly, joyously.' 
 
Joe Sharkey knows he is passed his prime. 
 
Now in his sixties, the younger surfers around the breaks on the north shore of Oahu still revere him as the once-legendary 'Shark', but his sponsors have moved on, and Joe wonders what new future awaits him on the horizon. Uninterrupted quality time with the ocean, he hopes. 
 
Life has other plans. 
 
When he accidentally hits and kills a man near Waimea while drunk-driving, he fears he will never rebound. Under the direction of his stubbornly loyal girlfriend Olive, he throws himself into uncovering his victim's story. But what they find in Max Mulgrave is entirely unexpected: a shared history - and refuge in the sea. 
 
Set on the stunning Hawaiian coast, Theroux captures the glory and nostalgia of looking back at a rich and adventurous past, whilst learning to ride out life's next unexpected wave. 
 
'[Paul Theroux's] writing skills are disciplined and muscular, his ear as finely tuned as a musician's, his eye sharper than any razor' Daily Mail

Kaleidoscopic. Extraordinary. A frightening ride to the bottom of the soul of a man with a previously unexamined life. This is contemporary Hawaii as it's rarely evoked, with surfing strangely near its troubled heart

William Finnegan, author of “Barbarian Days”, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Superb... Under the Wave at Waimea immerses you so elaborately in its watery world that you may start seeing surfing as just another guise for life itself... This probing tale of a man who's come undone and the strong, stark woman who thinks she can reassemble him is one of Theroux's best novels

Paul Theroux has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including the modern classics The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, My Secret History and The Mosquito Coast. He won the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing 2020. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands.

Joe Sharkey knows he is passed his prime. 
 
 Now in his sixties, the younger surfers around the breaks on the north shore of Oahu still revere him as the once-legendary 'Shark', but his sponsors have moved on, and Joe wonders what new future awaits him on the horizon. Uninterrupted quality time with the ocean, he hopes. 
 
 Life has other plans. 
 
 When he accidentally hits and kills a man near Waimea while drunk-driving, he fears he will never rebound. Under the direction of his stubbornly loyal girlfriend Olive, he throws himself into uncovering his victim's story. But what they find in Max Mulgrave is entirely unexpected: a shared history - and refuge in the sea. 
 
 Set on the stunning Hawaiian coast, Theroux captures the glory and nostalgia of looking back at a rich and adventurous past, whilst learning to ride out life's next unexpected wave.

A Mexican Road Trip

On the Plain of Snakes

WINNER OF THE EDWARD STANFORD AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO TRAVEL WRITING 2020 
 
The master of contemporary travel writing, Paul Theroux, immerses himself in the beautiful and troubled heart of modern Mexico 
 
Nogales is a border town caught between Mexico and the United States of America. A forty-foot steel fence runs through its centre, separating the prosperous US side from the impoverished Mexican side. It is a fascinating site of tension, now more than ever, as the town fills with hopeful border crossers and the deportees who have been caught and brought back. And it is here that Paul Theroux will begin his journey into the culturally rich but troubled heart of modern Mexico. 
 
Moving through the deserts just south of the Arizona border, Theroux finds a place brimming with charm, yet visibly marked by both the US border patrol looming to the north and mounting discord from within. Attending local language and culinary schools, driving through the country and meeting its people, Paul Theroux gets under the skin of Mexico. 
 
From the writer praised for his 'curiosity and affection for humanity in all its forms' (New York Times Book Review), On The Plain of Snakes is an urgent and mesmerising exploration of a region in conflict. 
 
Praise for Paul Theroux: 
 
'As cool as Maugham... as observant, intuitive, wry, inventive and eloquent as Graham Greene' Sunday Times 
 
'Theroux's work remains the standard by which other travel writing must be judged' Observer 
 
'The world's most perceptive travel writer' Daily Mail 
 
'One of the most accomplished and worldly-wise writers of his generation' The Times

Filled with compassion and wit, this is a warm and insightful account of contemporary Mexican culture, politics and everyday life.

Theroux's work remains the standard by which other travel writing must be judged

[Theroux's] ability to sum up a people or a city in a few lines is undiminished

The world's most perceptive travel writer

[A] dark-edged but ultimately hopeful travelogue... Armchair travelers will find an astute, familiar guide in Theroux

Countless lovely descriptions of Mexico's landscapes and insights into the country's history and literature... Illuminating, literate, and timely-a must-read for those interested in what's going on inside Mexico

Nogales is a border town caught between Mexico and the United States of America. A 40-foot steel fence runs through its centre, separating the prosperous US side from the impoverished Mexican side. It is a fascinating site of tension, now more than ever, as the town fills with hopeful border crossers and the deportees who have been caught and brought back. And it is here that Paul Theroux will begin his journey into the culturally rich but troubled heart of modern Mexico. 
 
Mexico is a country that has captured literary imaginations from D. H. Lawrence and Graham Greene to Aldous Huxley. Now Paul Theroux, master of travel writing, immerses himself, attending local language and culinary schools, driving through the country, getting under its skin.

People and Places

Figures in a Landscape

A rich feast of travel writing, literary essays and fascinating interviews from Sunday Times bestselling travel author Paul Theroux 
 
'Wonderful... Evidence of both the breadth of Theroux's interests and his skill in bringing them to life' Sunday Times Culture 
 
Drawing together a fascinating body of writing from over 14 years of work, Figures in a Landscape ranges from profiles of cultural icons (Oliver Sacks, Elizabeth Taylor, Robin Williams) to intimate personal remembrances; from thrilling adventures in Africa to literary writings from Theroux's rich and expansive personal reading. Collectively these pieces offer a fascinating portrait of the author himself, his extraordinary life, restless and ever-curious mind. 
 
'Theroux's work remains the standard by which other travel writing must be judged' Observer 
 
'The world's most perceptive travel writer' Daily Mail

Wonderful... Evidence of both the breadth of Theroux's interests and his skill in bringing them to life

Drawing together classic Theroux pieces from the past 14 years, this new collection offers a comprehensive and deeply searching portrait of its acclaimed author - a kind of autobiography through work. 
 
Figures in a Landscape ranges from profiles of cultural icons (Oliver Sacks, Elizabeth Taylor, Robin Williams) to intimate personal remembrances; from thrilling adventures in Africa to literary writings from Theroux's rich and expansive personal reading. Collectively these pieces build up a fascinating portrait of Paul Theroux's restless, ever-curious mind.

Mother Land

'Downright hilarious... Like watching a slow-motion car crash. Theroux possesses a fabulously nasty sense of humour' Stephen King 
 
A riotously dysfunctional portrait of one all-American family and its diabolical matriarch - by one of America's most acclaimed writers 
 
Everyone in Cape Cod thinks that Mother is a wonderful woman: pious, hard-working, frugal. Everyone except her husband and seven children. To them she is a selfish and petty tyrant -- endlessly comparing her many living children to the one who died in childbirth, keeping a vice-like hold on her offspring even as they try to escape into adulthood. 
 
Welcome to Mother Land: a suffocating kingdom of parental narcissism. This is an engrossing, hilarious and heartbreaking portrait of a modern family -- the bickering, the conspiracies, and the drive to overcome the painful ties that bind. 
 
'Brilliantly depicts characters in pinpoint prickly prose' Guardian 
 
'Funny and wonderfully mean spirited' Saturday Review 
 
'The family dynamic has been rendered exceptionally well' Herald

Brilliantly depicts characters in pinpoint prickly prose

The family dynamic has been rendered exceptionally well

Everyone in Cape Cod thinks that Mother is a wonderful woman: pious, hard-working, frugal. Everyone except her husband and seven children. To them she is a selfish and petty tyrant -- endlessly comparing her many living children to the one who died in childbirth, keeping a vice-like hold on her offspring even as they try to escape into adulthood. 
 
Welcome to Mother Land: a suffocating kingdom of parental narcissism. This is an engrossing, hilarious and heartbreaking portrait of a modern family -- the bickering, the conspiracies, and the drive to overcome the painful ties that bind.

Paul Theroux

Illuminating . . . A collection of wryly observed short stories from the octogenarian writer shines a light on the process of ageing . . . time hasn’t whittled away Theroux’s ability to amuse and provoke . . . These literary snapshots — a rowdy boyhood summer camp, a visit to a carnival stripper, an elegiac chess game — are poignant and well honed

A master of the short story . . . Unexpected endings and frequent insight make for a high strike rate, but perhaps best of all are those where Theroux reassumes the biographical mantle of Andre Parent he previously employed for his 1989 novel My Secret History . . . If this is the last round–up from a grand old man of letters, his final words are good and true ones

One of the best-known travel writers of our times . . . The title is not just that of a single story, but is the theme of all the tales here, in which characters find themselves at a crucial junction in their lives

Theroux has a way of slipping profound truths into his prose, the type that diligent readers copy into notebooks . . . His writing gives fiction life. He describes the things we all see but don’t mention in polite conversation, and he shines a light on thoughts we actively avoid

The stories in The Vanishing Point are both exotic and domestic, their settings ranging from Hawaii to Africa and New England. Each focuses on life’s vanishing points—a moment when seemingly all lines running through one’s life converge, and one can see no farther, yet must deal with the implications. With the insight, subtlety, and empathy that has long characterized his work, Theroux has written deeply moving stories about memory, longing, and the passing of time, reclaiming his status, once again, as a master of the form.

The Vanishing Point

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Praise for The Vanishing Point

Illuminating . . . A collection of wryly observed short stories from the octogenarian writer shines a light on the process of ageing . . . time hasn’t whittled away Theroux’s ability to amuse and provoke . . . These ...

A master of the short story . . . Unexpected endings and frequent insight make for a high strike rate, but perhaps best of all are those where Theroux reassumes the biographical mantle of Andre Parent he previously ...

A live-wire read

Illuminating . . . A collection of wryly observed short stories from the octogenarian writer shines a light on the process of ageing . . . time hasn’t whittled away Theroux’s ability to amuse and provoke . . . These ...

A master of the short story . . . Unexpected endings and frequent insight make for a high strike rate, but perhaps best of all are those where Theroux reassumes the biographical mantle of Andre Parent he previously ...

A live-wire read

Illuminating . . . A collection of wryly observed short stories from the octogenarian writer shines a light on the process of ageing . . . time hasn’t whittled away Theroux’s ability to amuse and provoke . . . These ...

A master of the short story . . . Unexpected endings and frequent insight make for a high strike rate, but perhaps best of all are those where Theroux reassumes the biographical mantle of Andre Parent he previously ...

A live-wire read

Books by Paul Theroux

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