A photo of Paul Theroux, author of Under the Wave at Waimea, on a yellow-tinted background with the interview title, 21 Questions, beside him.

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Features

‘I’ve learned something new every time I’ve read Heart of Darkness’: 21 Questions with Paul Theroux

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.

Four Seasons on Back Roads

Deep South

SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER 
 
Winner of the Stanford Dolman Lifetime Contribution to Travel Writing Award 2020 
 
Beloved travel writer Paul Theroux turns his attention to America, exploring the landscapes and communities of his homeland as an outsider for the first time 
 
For the past fifty years, Paul Theroux has travelled to the far corners of the earth - to China, India, Africa, the Pacific Islands, South America, Russia, and elsewhere - and brought them to life in his cool, exacting prose. In Deep South he turns his gaze to a region much closer to his home. 
 
Travelling through North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas, Paul Theroux writes of the stunning landscapes he discovers - the deserts, the mountains, the Mississippi - and above all, the lives of the people he meets. 
 
The South is a place of contradictions. There is the warm, open spirit of the soul food cafes, found in every town, no matter how small. There is the ruined grandeur of numberless ghostly towns, long abandoned by the industries that built them. There are the state gun shows and the close-knit,subtly forlorn tribe of people who attend and run them. Deep in the heart of his native country, Theroux discovers a land more profoundly foreign than anything he has previously experienced.

Publisher's description.  For the first time, renowned travel writer Paul Theroux turns his penetrating gaze homeward, exploring the extraordinary places and peoples of the American Deep South. From soul food and wide open roads to endemic poverty and simmering racial tension, he journeys to the heart of a vivid and mesmerising world.

His ability to sum up a people or a city in a few lines is undiminished

[Theroux] has the power to transport us and get under the skin of a place... the stories in Deep South make for a compelling listen

This engrossing book reminds us that despite the poverty, maybe because of it, everyone has a story to tell and it's the writer's job to bear such testimony

For the past fifty years, Paul Theroux has travelled to the far corners of the earth - to China, India, Africa, the Pacific Islands, South America, Russia and elsewhere - and brought them to life in his cool, exacting prose. 
 
In Deep South he turns his gaze to a region much closer to his home. Travelling through North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas, he writes of the stunning landscapes he discovers - the deserts, the mountains, the Mississippi - and above all, the lives of the people he meets.

Paul Theroux

'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 &ndash; a decaying system steeped in overt racism and petty class-conflict &ndash; 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.

Paul Theroux

Burma Sahib

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