Novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux talks about his love for Mexico, road trips and Greenland
This week, novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux looks into our Travel Questions and Answers.
He reflects on his favorite foreign country, sheds light on the place that inspired his latest novel and remembers his very first trip abroad in the 1960s.
EARLIEST HOLIDAY MEMORY?
As a boy, he spent a week in a cottage by the sea in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. We didn’t have a fridge, and I remember the rubber-toed ice cream man would come by every couple of days with big blocks of ice on his back.
Novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux (pictured) checks in on our Travel Questions and Answers
FIRST TIME ABROAD?
After graduating from university in the summer of 1963, I went to an Italian town called Urbino to teach English—my students were all young women, the food was delicious, and the city was beautiful. It was probably my best job.
THE GREAT IRON BAZAAR GOT YOU THE NAME AS A WRITER – ARE YOU STILL A TRAIN FAN?
I’m more of a driver. My last books were inspired by road trips. With a car, you can go anywhere, anytime.
IS YOUR NEW NOVEL INSPIRED BY ANYTHING SPECIFIC?
It’s the story of feuding brothers in a small town similar to where I grew up, Medford, Massachusetts, but I called her Littleford in my book and I thought, ‘That’ll fool her!’
After graduating from university in the summer of 1963, Paul went to an Italian town called Urbino (above) to teach English. “That was probably my best job,” he says
WHICH OF YOUR BOOKS ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
The Mosquito Coast, which was made into a film, and my memoir of VS Naipaul, Sir Vidia’s Shadow.
FAVORITE ABROAD?
Mexico because I can drive there from my home in Cape Cod. It’s rich in history, I love the food, I have friends there and I speak Spanish. I particularly like Oaxaca and Mexico City.
DREAM DESTINATION?
A place I’ve dreamed of visiting Greenland for a long time – a place you hardly ever read about. I would like to go kayaking there.