Take him or leave him, Paul Theroux always brings out a lot of interesting emotions in his readers. With Deep South this is no different. In fact, it is probably even more evident. I would assume that most of his readers are American. This being a very "American" book, it is perhaps too close to home for some. I can see many Americans not liking this even if they have liked Theroux’s previous works. After all, it is easy to read about the negative aspects of a far away land. It is far harder to read about the issues that face locations closer to home.

I remember reading The Kingdom by the Sea, which chronicles Theroux’s journey around Great Britain. In the first few pages he details his observations about this island. I was living in England while I read this and I thought it was the funniest, most accurate description of the British I had ever read. The insanity of a TV license, the general tone of the people, etc. I cannot remember everything. But I felt it was totally accurate. I read these pages to several of my English friends and they got extremely upset. They thought it was total hogwash.

I think Deep South might elicit a similar response from American readers. I’ve read nearly every non-fiction book Theroux has ever written. I’ve seen him speak in London and I feel I know the man pretty well. As well as you can know an author. He is constantly getting nailed for being misanthropic. However, I don’t believe that’s him at all. Quite the contrary. After all, why would someone spend this much time traveling and meeting new people? Surely you don’t do this if you hate humanity. I don’t even like to talk to people when I’m on a long flight!

What Theroux is good at is simply observing what is what and writing it down. That’s all. If you’re offended by the way Theroux nails the Southerners for not having a great vocabulary, or being poverty stricken… well, that’s how he saw it. Take it or leave it. I know of many South Africans that didn’t like Dark Star Safari and thought he was full of himself and didn’t do the country any justice. Perhaps that’s true. I don’t know.

But what I do know is that I love how Theroux tells the story of the Deep South through the people he meets. This is true in all of his books. He meets quite a few people along the way and he tells their story with a keen eye for detail. He then passes this detail on to us, the reader. He’s the best in the business at doing this.

I for one am a fan of Deep South. I think it tells a very accurate story of what the place is like and what it’s people are like. I hope Mr. Theroux writes more books about America.

I’ve long had a bit of a love affair with the south…..and the many different lifestyles, beliefs religions and cultures that make it their home. While not always a huge fan of Theroux, I do find lots to think about in his writing and his way of looking at people and situations around him. I only wish he could have seen the beauty and unusualness of the whole south, and not just based everything on the more "Northern" norm of life. For life is different in the south, racial tensions are not hidden as they are in other parts of the country, and political correctness does not reign supreme. Different strokes for different folks, and that’s all well and good. I couldn’t help but feel that Theroux was a bit judgmental when it came to the lifestyles and situations he is unfamiliar with…..grinding poverty, lack of education, racial strife and more. Life does move slower in much of the south, in more ways than one, and that is not in all a bad thing. Perhaps if he had tried to loosen up, he might have found much more to admire about the spirit and attitudes of southerners, and the way of life. There may be some ugliness and unfairness, but that’s true elsewhere too. In all, I have found southern folks to be warmer, more real, more personable and relatable than people anywhere else. The lifestyles are rich and varied, and I think he missed much of the wonder and spirit there is to explore there. It’s his loss. The deep south continues to be a national treasure, even though this book doesn’t do it much credit. Other authors have delved into the mysteries and beauties of the south more fairly and with a clearer eye. Those are the books to turn to for the real story of the people of the south.

Paul Theroux has fairly much travelled the world and written about his experiences, whether it is Africa, Greece or the far East. In Deep South, his latest travel book, Paul has decided to write about his experiences at home. Well…not quite home seeing as he is a Yankee and lives in Hawaii, but of the South, the deep South.

This book was written over the course of 4 trips to the South, one in each Season and his travels take him from the Carolinas through to Arkansas and his beloved Mississippi river, "The Old Man". Unusually, rather than taking in all that the South has to offer, Paul decided to go out of his way and visit the places that people don’t really want to visit. Not the tourist spots or the bustling cities but the poorest and most run down areas of the South.

Paul is well versed in the travel books of others before him, "Reading made me a traveler; travel sent me back to books" and he often cites other works and authors in the text. During his travels he meets and interviews a broad spectrum of people from mayors to social workers, students to the myriad of friendly soul food diner owners.

Although the book is mainly split into the four major chapters, each covering a season (with a brief interlude in-between), each chapter is really divided into lots of short stories, each only a couple of pages in length. I find this style of writing a welcome change as you can pick up the book, read a few sub-chapters and put it back down again without losing the overall plot or meanderings Paul takes.

The tales range from abject poverty and hopelessness to hard working optimism, from gun shows which the author suggests are "White only" (he is totally wrong on this but it makes for a good narrative), to gospel churches which he suggests are "Black only" (again the author is wrong on this point but lets not get too picky about his findings). He travels to the home town of the Klu Klux Klan and hears some grisly stories to Helena and the beautiful towns in the delta of the Mississippi.

The author does make a good point numerous times throughout the book, why are we sending billions of tax payer dollars in aid to Africa (the fruits of which he himself has witnessed and written about) whilst basically ignoring the plight of so many here at home?

Although it is a good and interesting read, the author unfortunately leaves you with the impression that the deep South is nothing but poverty and racism. Like Paul in a way, I am a transplant to the South coming over from Europe but unlike the author I decided to stay here in the South. I have visited quite a few of the small towns that Paul writes about. To a certain degree I can see where the author is coming from, there are very poor areas in the South and racism is still a factor to a dwindling few, but that is absolutely no different from places in the North I have visited. In fact, no different really from places all over America I have visited. It certainly isn’t just a Southern thing and the author didn’t try to make matters better as he deliberately went to the poor areas.

Overall it is good and interesting read but leaves you with a sense that the author wants people to believe that the South is a poverty stricken and backwards part of America, nothing like the North where he comes from, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It appears as though Paul had an agenda which wasn’t just writing about his travels in the South and unfortunately this leaves a stain on an otherwise worthy read.