Archive - October 3, 2022

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Paul Theroux (Malawi): “Writing is a blood sport.”
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BEYOND THE ROAD TO SINYEA by Ann Hales (Liberia)
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Review — THE BAD ANGEL BROTHERS by Paul Theroux (Malawi)

Paul Theroux (Malawi): “Writing is a blood sport.”

Thanks for the ‘heads up’ from Dale Gilles (Liberia 1964-67)   Paul Theroux: ‘Writing is a blood sport. One does have differences with people’ by Rachel Cooke The Guardian 3 October 2022     The prolific novelist and travel writer is 81 but shows no signs of slowing down. He talks about adventure, criticism .  . .  and that memoir by his ex-wife.   In an ideal world — by which I mean one that lives up to my most energetic fantasies – Paul Theroux and I would be meeting in some far flung and exotic place: on an empty platform in a distant railway station, or under a date palm in a dried-up desert oasis. Both of us would have dust on our boots. One of us would be wearing a bad hat, or even a good one. Our conversation, which would unfold like an old map, would come with a . . .

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BEYOND THE ROAD TO SINYEA by Ann Hales (Liberia)

   A Peace Corps Memoir — 1981–1983   When a young woman strides into her dream adventure as a Peace Corps Volunteer, she gets more that she bargained for — the experience transforms her life. As nursing instructor in Liberia, West Africa, in the early 1980s, she witnesses gut-wrenching life circumstances of the Liberian people and their systems of education and health care. While living in a traditional village, she discovers that her neighbors believe she has magical pawers, encounters the “devil” from the Secret Bush Society, and finds “family” when she least expected to do so. This deeply personal memoir is filled with stories of West African life as seen firsthand throughout the eyes of a person who wanted to make a difference in the world. The author revisits her younger self with compassion and curiosity, conveying to readers an understanding of culture clash and the helplessness anyone might . . .

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Review — THE BAD ANGEL BROTHERS by Paul Theroux (Malawi)

  The Bad Angel Brothers by Paul Theroux (Malawi 1963-65)) ‎Mariner Books Publisher ‎352 pages September 2022 $14.99 (Kindle); $26.09 (Hardcover), $22.35 or 1 credit (Audiobook) Reviewed by Mark D. Walker (Guatemala 1971-73) • Paul Theroux (Malawi 1963-65) is probably the most prolific of the Returned Peace Corps writers, with 33 works in fiction and 53 books overall. As with his latest book, I wasn’t enthusiastic about reading it, as I prefer his nonfiction travel stories. But just as was the case reading the life of the aging surfer in Hawaii in Under the Wave of Waimae (2021), he does a stellar job developing the characters in this psychological thriller. This most recent book is a classic tale of a dysfunctional family. A younger brother’s rivalry with his older brother, Frank, a domineering brother and a well-known lawyer in their small community in Massachusetts. Frank also has a propensity to come up with . . .

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