The Last Train to Zona Verde

Resumen del libro

"Theroux is at his best when he tells people's stories, happy and sad . . . Theroux's great mission had always been to transport us beyond that reading chair, to challenge himself--and thus, to challenge us." -- "Boston Globe"
A decade ago, Paul Theroux's best-selling "Dark Star Safari" chronicled his epic overland voyage from Cairo to Cape Town, providing an insider's look at modern Africa. Now, with "The Last Train to Zona Verde," he returns to discover how both he and Africa have changed in the ensuing years.
Traveling alone, Theroux sets out from Cape Town, going north through South Africa, Namibia, then into Angola, encountering a world increasingly removed from tourists' itineraries and the hopes of postcolonial independence movements. After covering nearly 2,500 arduous miles, he cuts short his journey, a decision he chronicles with unsparing honesty in a chapter titled "What Am I Doing Here?" Vivid, witty, and beautifully evocative, " The Last Train to Zona Verde" is a fitting final African adventure from the writer whose gimlet eye and effortless prose have brought the world to generations of readers.
"Everything is under scrutiny in Paul Theroux's latest travel book--not just the people, landscapes and sociopolitical realities of the countries he visits, but his own motivations for going where he goes . . . His readers can only be grateful." -- "Seattle Times"
"If this book is proof, age has not slowed Theroux or encouraged him to rest on his achievements . . . Gutsy, alert to Africa's struggles, its injustices and history." -- "San Francisco Chronicle"

Biografía del autor

Nació en Medford, Massachusetts, en 1941 y publicó su primera novela, Waldo, en 1967. Tras cinco años en Uganda, se trasladó a Singapur, donde durante tres años enseñó literatura en la universidad. Allí concició y escribió San Jack, publicada por primera vez en Inglaterra en 1973, y con la que obtuvo su primer gran éxito internacional. La obra fue llevada al cine por Peter Bogdanovich en 1978 y recordada por la magistral interpretación que el actor Ben Gazzara realizó del pintoresco Jack Flowers. Autor de diecisiete novelas, tres libros de viajes y un ensayo sobre V.S. naipaul, Paul Theroux es hoy uno de los autores más apreciados, leídos y traducidos de la literatura contemporánea en lengua inglesa. Recibió varios premios, entre otros el James Tait Black Memorial por La costa de los mosquitos (1981), considerada por Graham Green una de las mejores novelas de nuestro siglo.