On road trips spanning four seasons, wending along rural highways, Paul Theroux travels to America's Deep South to uncover the truth behind the myths, the fictions and the lies. He visits gun shows and small-town churches, labourers in Arkansas, and parts of Mississippi where they still call the farm up the road 'the plantation'. He talks to mayors and social workers, writers and reverends, the working poor and farming families: the unsung heroes of the South, from those who never left to those who returned home to rebuild a place they could never live without.
'Wonderful writing. This is his best work of non-fiction. If acted upon, it may prove to be his most important.' Sunday Herald
'Engrossing. Reminds us that despite poverty everyone has a story to tell and it's the writer's job to bear such testimony.' Financial Times
'The preeminent American travel writer of the last half-century. Deep South works because Theroux is a master of his craft, but also because he has just the right amount of road-weary wisdom to counter centuries of mythmaking. He does all this with clarity and charm.' Washington Post
'Casts an ever-sharp eye over life, history, community and hospitality below the Mason-Dixon line.' Wanderlust
