Interview with Paul Theroux

I put some of Paul Theroux’s books, including “The Old Patagonian Express” and “Riding the Iron Rooster,” at the top of my list of favorite travel books. His latest, “Ghost Train to the Eastern Star,” is among his best. So I was happy to interview him recently for World Hum. Among other things, I asked him whether he reads much travel writing these days. His reply:

“I don’t. I read books by my friends. Now and then if a book comes along that’s a real ordeal, I read it. I’m not looking for a well-written book. I’m looking for a book about something that appeals to me, an ordeal appeals to me, a place I’ve never been that’s written about in a penetrating way. I’m not looking for someone just joyriding or a stunt, someone riding a bicycle somewhere or whatever it is. But people used to talk about the death of the novel. That’s a kind of normal reaction to too much of something. But there will always be travel books, as long as there are places to go.

–Sept. 1, 2008