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Sunrise with Seamonsters: Travels & Discoveries, 1964-1984 Kindle Edition

by Paul Theroux (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 66 ratings
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This collection of wide-ranging essays from the New York Times–bestselling travel writer is “a steamer trunk full of delights” (Chicago Sun-Times).

This collection of decidedly opinionated articles, essays, and ruminations, by the author of My Other Life and Kowloon Tong, transports the reader not only to exotic, unexpected places in the world but also into the interior life of the writer himself. Whether it is his time serving in the Peace Corps, his memorable interview with tennis star John McEnroe, bearing witness to the uprising in Uganda, or the debt he owes to his mentor, V. S. Naipaul, Theroux approaches each subject with characteristic intelligence, insight, and an eye for life’s great ironies.
 
Over the course of two decades, Paul Theroux gathers people, places, and ideas in precise, evocative writing that “serves as both the camera and the eye, and both the details and the illusions are developed with brilliance” (Time).
 
“What makes Mr. Theroux most persuasive as a writer is simply his willingness to put himself on the line. . . . Gusty, personal, and astonishing.” —The New York Times
 
“These pieces prove anew Theroux’s unflagging, infectious enthusiams [sic] for exploring.” —Kirkus Reviews
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  1. Print length
    380 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Mariner Books
  5. Publication date
    May 8, 1986
  6. File size
    2264 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Theroux serves as both the camera and the eye, and both the details and the illusions are developed with brilliance." Time Magazine —

About the Author

Paul Theroux is the author of many highly acclaimed books. His novels include The Lower River and The Mosquito Coast, and his renowned travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star and Dark Star Safari. Theroux lives in Hawaii and Cape Cod.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B005G03F2O
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mariner Books; Reprint edition (May 8, 1986)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 8, 1986
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2264 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 380 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 66 ratings

About the author

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Paul Theroux

Paul Theroux

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Paul Theroux was born and educated in the United States. After graduating from university in 1963, he travelled first to Italy and then to Africa, where he worked as a Peace Corps teacher at a bush school in Malawi, and as a lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda. In 1968 he joined the University of Singapore and taught in the Department of English for three years. Throughout this time he was publishing short stories and journalism, and wrote a number of novels. Among these were Fong and the Indians, Girls at Play and Jungle Lovers, all of which appear in one volume, On the Edge of the Great Rift (Penguin, 1996).

In the early 1970s Paul Theroux moved with his wife and two children to Dorset, where he wrote Saint Jack, and then on to London. He was a resident in Britain for a total of seventeen years. In this time he wrote a dozen volumes of highly praised fiction and a number of successful travel books, from which a selection of writings were taken to compile his book Travelling the World (Penguin, 1992). Paul Theroux has now returned to the United States, but he continues to travel widely.

Paul Theroux's many books include Picture Palace, which won the 1978 Whitbread Literary Award; The Mosquito Coast, which was the 1981 Yorkshire Post Novel of the Year and joint winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was also made into a feature film; Riding the Iron Rooster, which won the 1988 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award; The Pillars of Hercules, shortlisted for the 1996 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award; My Other Life: A Novel, Kowloon Tong, Sir Vidia's Shadow, Fresh-air Fiend and Hotel Honolulu. Blindness is his latest novel. Most of his books are published by Penguin.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
66 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

zorba
5.0 out of 5 stars A Literary Treasure
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2009
Verified Purchase
This 300-page-plus collection of essays is truly a treasure chest. Not a page is devoid of wondrous facts or insights by this chronicler of people, places and things. He takes you to exotic countries (in fact one of his essays is on the very nature of "exotic"). He takes you on fascinating journeys, not only in third world outposts but even in the U.S. He introduces you to irrestible people, many famous, many not. He shares with you insights and opinions in a manner that is respectful, not pedantic. I think Theroux is one of our best essayists and his eye for the potpourri that our world encompasses is unerring. Reading Theroux' essays and non-fiction work is always a pleasure. (His novels, however, are another matter, to be discussed at another time....)
21 people found this helpful
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Guy P. Thatcher
4.0 out of 5 stars Paul Theroux short stories
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2019
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Paul Theroux. Almost all of his writing I like ... a lot.
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Sandy Munro
3.0 out of 5 stars Nice compilation of Theroux's travel adventures.
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2014
Verified Purchase
Well written excerpts from essays and short stories previously published by Paul Theroux. Not very cohesive, but interesting as Theroux's books always are.
7 people found this helpful
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Joe Aswan
5.0 out of 5 stars A Damn Good Book About Real Travel
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2011
Real travel is not going on a cruise, or spending a week on a resort. Real travel is experiencing a culture in its fullness, in its vagueness, and in its lost sentiment.

Paul Theroux is the best modern travel writer, and this collection of his essays is probably his best book. Ranging from his early travels in Africa, and covering the rest of the world as he reached his forties, these essays show travel and the profundity of life to come from the most unexpected and lovely of places.

'Sunrise With Seamonsters' is also good because while the subject is in general travel, he discusses such varied places and characters you get a sense of the time slipping by in the most pleasant of ways.

A great book, highly recommended.
14 people found this helpful
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Nedsky
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb example of great writing
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2011
I found this book in a bookstore in Vienna in 1992. The stories are so well written, I find myself going back to them time and time to re-read. Paul writes with the very best. Some of the many great passages deserve to read many times. It's that good.
5 people found this helpful
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jumpy
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2014
Excellent reading as, always!!
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pulling cheek swirl better shake up
4.0 out of 5 stars making Nixon seem ordinary
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2010
It does not surprise me that someone trying to make sense of the world, writers, the fear of getting lost in New York City's subways, and ideas about the novel, would find that Nixon had an extremely limited view of how the other parts of the world could come up with a great wall from hundreds of years ago. Nixon saw the great wall in China and realized it was a great wall, but Nixon does not get credit in this book for figuring out anything but partisan politics, when Nixon had an opportunity to make American policy perfectly clear. We have such an overwhelming number of items to be concerned about now, it is unlikely that anything in this book could become a factor that would decide an election, with political personalities being defined simplistically pretty much like the current American war on drugs and efforts to stop money laundering by criminals and the war on terror.
3 people found this helpful
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Moonchild
2.0 out of 5 stars My bad!
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2016
Verified Purchase
Didn't realize it was quick short stories of various places. Was hoping it was an adventure to follow. My bad !
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Sandra
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2016
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This book was for my husband who enjoyed reading the book.
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douglas reddington
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on February 25, 2018
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This is Wirth while.
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P Sanderson
1.0 out of 5 stars Interesting initially but...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2016
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I am a great fan of Paul Theroux (have many of his books), but half way through this he lost me. Too disconnected, a bit indulgent - the early ones were the best, illuminating his early awakenings, but by halfway through they became too random, with no theme or collective coherence - just postings of articles and reviews. Maybe individually excellent in themselves, but making no case for me to continue with the book.
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