In this remarkable collection of essays and articles
written over the last fifteen years, Paul Theroux
demonstrates how the traveling life are intimately
connected. Not simply an escape from the mundane,
travel has always been a creative act for Theroux.
His journeys in remote hinterlands and crowded
foreign capitals provide the necessary perspective
to "become a stranger" in order to discover the
self.
Wonderfully broad in scope, thought, and feeling,
Fresh Air Fiend touches down on five continents and
floats through most of the seas in between. From the
crisp quiet of a solitary week spent in the
snowbound Maine woods, to the expectant chaos of
Hong Kong on the eve of the Hand-over, to a small
pacific island where atomic bombs were detonated,
Theroux is the perfect guide -- casually
informative, keenly observant, wry and entertaining.
As Time has written, Theroux "serves as both the
camera and the eye, and both the details and the
illusions are developed with brilliance." He also
reaches back into Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer,
treats us to insightful readings of his favorite
travel books, and reveals the fascinating stories
behind some of his own.
Fresh Air Fiend is a companion volume to
Theroux's earlier, much loved Sunrise with
Seamonsters, but this is his first collection
devoted completely to travel writing, for which the
author of such classics as The Great Railway Bazaar
and Riding The Iron Rooster is justly famous.
Traveling with Theroux is a literary adventure
of the first order, never a languid luxury cruise,
always an insightful journey into the heart and soul
of a place and its people. Fresh Air Fiend is the
ultimate good read for anyone fascinated by travel
in the wider world or curious about the life of one
of our more passionate travelers. |
