Paul Theroux

The world's most acclaimed travel writer journeys through western Africa from Cape Town to the Congo.

"From the bestselling novelist, travel writer, and "master of the short story" (NPR) comes a brilliant new collection. The stories in Paul Theroux's fascinating new collection are both exotic and domestic, their settings ranging from Hawaii to Africa and New England. Each focuses on life's vanishing points--a moment when seemingly all lines running through one's life converge, and one can see no farther, yet must deal with the implications. With the...

"Cal has always lived in the shadow of his brother, Frank, a complicated narcissist who was doted upon by their mother and beloved by the girls in their hometown-including Cal's own girlfriends. In an attempt to escape Frank's insidious presence, Cal pursues a different kind of freedom in the world's wild spaces, prospecting for gold and precious minerals everywhere from the heat of the desert at the Mexican border to the Alaskan chill to the suffocating...

During the time of Lyndon Johnson's presidency, Herbie Gneiss is forced to leave college to get a job. His income from the Kant-Brake toy factory, which manufactures military toys for children, keeps his chocolate-loving mother from starvation. Mr. Gibbon, a patriotic veteran of three wars, also works at Kant-Brake. When Herbie is drafted, Mr. Gibbon falls in love with Herbie's mother and they move in together at Miss Ball's rooming house. Since Herbie...

Presents an anthology of the best travel writing published in 2014, selected from magazines, newspapers, and web sites.