Part 1 Meganesia: New Zealand - the land of the long white cloud; New Zealand - sloshing through the South Island; waffling in white Australia; walkabout in Woop Woop; north of the never-never. Part 2 Melanesia: buoyant in the peaceful Trobiands; aground in the troubled Trobriands; the Solomon - down and dirty in Guadalcanal; the Solomons - in the Egg Fields of Savo Island; Vanuatu - cannibals and missionaries; the oddest island in Vanuatu; Fiji - the dividied island of Viti Levu; Fiji - Vanua Levu and the islets of Bligh Water. Part 3 Polynesia: Tonga - the royal island of Tongatapu; Tonga - alone on the desert islands of Vava'u; in the backwaters of Western Samoa; American Samoa - the littered lagoon; Tahiti - the windward shore of the island of love; a voyage to the Marquesas; the Cook Islands - in the lagoon of Aitutaki; Easter Island - beyond the surf zone of Rapa Nui; Easter Island - the old canoe ramp at Tongariki. Part 4 Paradise: Oahu - open espionage in Honalulu; Kauai - following the dolphins on the Na Pali coast; Niihau and Lanai - some men are islands; the big island - paddling in the state of grace.
Paul Theroux was born in Medford, Massachusetts in 1941. He has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including The Last Train to Zona Verde, Dark Star Safari, Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Riding the Iron Rooster, The Great Railway Bazaar, The Elephanta Suite, A Dead Hand, The Tao of Travel and The Lower River. The Mosquito Coast and Dr Slaughter have both been made into successful films. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands. His most recent work is Deep South, which is published by Hamish Hamilton.
"Engaging and at times brilliant...he goes places where the rest of
us might fear to paddle, often beaching his kayak on a small South
Pacific island without the foggiest idea whether those awaiting him
will be friendly, indifferent, or anxious to give him a good
thwack...well worth reading." USA Today
"A superb blend of sharp-eyed observation and pungently expressed
opinion. It's hardly paradise, this lovely part of the world, but
Theroux makes it endlessly fascinating." Newsday
"Feisty, eloquent, and vast in scope...a multilayered odyssey." The
San Francisco Chronicle
"Perceptive, terribly readable, and wickedly funny...[An]
exhilarating book." --Book Review The Los Angeles Times
The best-selling author of My Secret History ( LJ 4/1/89) and Riding the Iron Rooster ( LJ 6/15/88) spent 18 months in a one-man collapsible kayak exploring such exotic Pacific islands as New Zealand, Australia, the Soloman and Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, Easter Island, and Hawaii. Never a kind-hearted chronicler of place, he sets out on this voyage in an especially dour mood, leaving behind a failed marriage and expecting to be diagnosed with cancer at any moment. Soon after he escapes the crowded towns of Australia, however, he starts to lose some of his harsh edge and enjoy his travels, which ultimately heal him. A brilliant storyteller with an eye for the absurd, Theroux takes the reader to little-known places where time seems to have stood still and people lead simple lives totally unrelated to 20th-century America. Highly recommended for all libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/92.-- Lisa J. Cochenet, Rhinelander Dist. Lib., Wis.
"Engaging and at times brilliant...he goes places where the rest of
us might fear to paddle, often beaching his kayak on a small South
Pacific island without the foggiest idea whether those awaiting him
will be friendly, indifferent, or anxious to give him a good
thwack...well worth reading." USA Today
"A superb blend of sharp-eyed observation and pungently expressed
opinion. It's hardly paradise, this lovely part of the world, but
Theroux makes it endlessly fascinating." Newsday
"Feisty, eloquent, and vast in scope...a multilayered odyssey." The
San Francisco Chronicle
"Perceptive, terribly readable, and wickedly funny...[An]
exhilarating book." --Book Review The Los Angeles Times
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