I’ve read and reviewed the last seven books from the “Dean of Travel Writing,” Paul Theroux. I wrote my latest book, My Saddest Pleasures: 50 Years on the Road, in honor and appreciation of Theroux and another travel writer, “who personally knew and was inspired by Moritz Thomsen and passed their enthusiasm on to me.” Thomsen wrote the Peace Corps experience classic, Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle. Theroux’s book, The Tao of Travel, celebrates 50 years of travel writing and inspired my series, “The Yin & Yang of Travel.” Theroux is probably the most prolific of the Returned Peace Corps writers, with […]
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An Ode to Travel Writers, Million Mile Walker Dispatch October Edition 2024
Dear Colleagues and Friends from Around the World, This month, you can click on the poster above to access the latest Arizona Authors Association Newsletter, which includes my “An Ode to Travel Writers,” which is part of my Million Mile Walker Review column on page 15. I highlight two writers who have inspired my travel writing: Paul Theroux and Moritz Thomsen. You can also find out about a special presentation I’ve been working on with the Phoenix Writers Club and the Arizona Authors Association for Danielle Hampson, the founder of The Authors Show. On page 31, Danielle will discuss the […]
Continue readingBurma Sahib by Paul Theroux, Reviewed by Mark D. Walker
The Dean of travel writing reimagines one of English literature’s most controversial writers in his early, formative years. Theroux leads us on the journey with George Orwell from a British Raj officer in Colonial Burma and his transformation from Eric Blair to Orwell, the anti-colonial writer. Blair set sail for India shortly after graduating from the same prestigious private school of Eton, whose alums included Boris Johnson and nineteen other British prime ministers. Despite his young age (19), he would oversee local police officers in Burma and deal with his fellow British’s racial and class politics while trying to learn […]
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