The Tao of Travel

(Paperback)

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Description

An encyclopaedic compendium of wit, wisdom and travel tips - gathered together by Theroux after fifty years on the road A compendium of travel writing from a master traveller Paul Theroux celebrates fifty years of wandering the globe by collecting the best writing on travel from the books that shaped him, as a reader and a traveller. Part philosophical guide, part miscellany, part reminiscence, The Tao of Travel enumerates 'The Contents of Some Travellers' Bags' and exposes 'Writers Who Wrote About Places They Never Visited'; tracks extreme journeys in 'Travel As An Ordeal' and highlights some of 'Travellers' Favourite Places'. Excerpts from the best of Theroux's own work are interspersed with selections from travellers both familiar and unexpected, including Vladimir Nabokov, Henry David Thoreau, Graham Greene, Ernest Hemingway and more. The Tao of Travel is a unique tribute to the pleasures and pains of travel in its golden age.

Reviews

One for the armchair traveller and the adventurer who has scaled K2 and swum the Bosphorus. Like a long train journey, once you settle in there's a lot to enjoy. Gripping * The Times *
Dazzling . . . like someone panning for gold, Theroux reread hundreds of travel classics and modern works, shaking out the nuggets. A source of inspiration for prospective travelers and a guide to how, in Theroux's view, to travel properly * San Fransisco Chronicle *
Pure entertainment * Financial Times *
A real treat for anyone travelling * Guardian *
One of the best introductions to travelling and travel writing * Sunday Times *

Author Bio

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.