A fascinating journal of Theroux's extensive travel on the back roads of Mississippi.
He made 3 trips, each of some months duration, in different seasons of the year, and wrote of the people he met (and less about the places he went).
It a marvelous "inside view" of the impact of racism over the generations. Every political leader should read it. Paul arranged to meet the "real people". For example, he asked a housing service provider to help him meet some of their clients, which gave me a view I have never seen on my own.

Favorite quote:
“The Klan don’t wear sheets,” Andre said, and looked around at his fellow farmers. “They sitting behind the desks in the banks. Uh-huh!”
From Theroux, Paul (2015-09-29). Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads (p. 402). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

Just think about the implications of that message for the black trying to obtain a loan. ( )

Part travelogue, part memoir, part commentary on poverty, Paul Theroux's Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads attempts to follow in the footsteps of James Agee and Walker Evans (see Let Us Now Praise Famous Men), but the lack of a cohesion makes this a bit more stream-of-consciousness (my real rating is 3.5 stars). Theroux seems to tease out important elements in fits and starts and then gets a bit lost in the landscape or musings about its people--all of which are important, but get a bit flattened by the lack of overarching game plan. Gun shows seem to be a major epicenter, and indeed some of those vignettes are some of the most revealing. Where the book is differentiated is in its ability to (for the most part) keep a voice that is in an in-between space, flanked by disinterest on one side and passion on the other...some might call it a style. But his allegiances are enigmatic, and that can be frustrating, particularly when there is so much at stake. He has been criticized for racializing poverty, and the lack of obvious through-line does not help (the line is there, but there's little about the presentation to highlight it). Sometimes Theroux allows ample space for various voices of the Deep South, but then seems to stand in front of the camera without warning, and very often the impact is one of condescension. Where I most appreciated Theroux's interjections was when he wrote about Southern writers: Faulkner, Portis, O'Connor, etc. (see his "Interlude: The Fantastications of Southern Fiction). Here Theroux seemed to be on more solid ground in terms of firsthand experience with literature.
When Theroux does move out of the way, or fosters a real dialogue (as with the farmers in Arkansas), the book has riches to offer. Dignity does seem to be something which Theroux wishes to amplify and in this, Deep South is successful.

But perhaps it is reading with post-2020 eyes that makes his ambivalence seem inadequate for a travel memoir of this area. There are moments where his opinion is clear -- Clinton's seeming abandonment of poor people in Arkansas, for example--but the meandering (and as one critic said, languid) book dilutes the moments of potential power. Yet, in its 441 pages are voices that are important and have stories and lives to share--some of which are heartbreaking, and some of which are angering. The earnest bigotry of some of those voices is frightening, but not in a sensationalized way. Instead, readers should understand that the "us vs. them" mindset is of limited value because "those" minds are just as set as "ours." The back roads of the Deep South contain multitudes, and what seems like occasional disinterest on the part of Theroux, might be a reminder that those back roads should be more front-and-center. ( )

The final line reads (and this is no spoiler): "though I had come so far-- miles more than I ever had in Africa or China-- I had never left home." This is a deep exploration of a part of the United States that most people probably think they know (I thought I did), but is largely veiled from view. How many television shows are set in Alabama or Mississippi? How many movies (besides obvious historical fiction) depict Arkansas or South Carolina? I never really thought about it, but I haven't seen many. Paul Theroux explores the region thoroughly, taking back roads and driving into small towns, many poverty-stricken and many still prosperous, almost all divided along racial lines. He speculates that this depression, this separation-- not just between black and white but between the south and the rest of the country-- harkens back to the civil war, a loss that is still felt today and might never leave. In many ways, southerners are defeated people. He also muses (and asks people outright) about the lack of political and philanthropic support to the region, which in many ways is as desperate for aid as any place in Africa or Asia (and which is far closer by), but which receives none. Organizations like the Clinton Foundation (and Clinton is from Arkansas) put no funding there. I'd never really thought about it and it was very interesting. I'm not sure if this book has inspired me to undertake my own physical exploration of the south, but I will certainly take some of Theroux's reading recommendations. And I'll read more about his travels as well. ( )

Another really interesting and hard to put down travel book by an author I an really say I enjoy reading. Theroux, who has traveled the world, gets in a car and drives through the deep South: Mississippi, Alabama, the Carolinas, and Arkansas. Theroux avoids the big cities and travels to the small towns over a period of several years - going back 2 or 3 times, meeting some of the same people. The stories are overall dismal: poverty, racism, lack of opportunity, lack of education, just general malaise in many.

Very little of what Theroux saw or wrote about surprises me as a resident of rural Missouri - not all that far from the Arkansas that he explored.

Along with the travelogue, he writes a lot about Southern literature - Faulkner, Agee, and other writers. He never comments as much as he just presents. Good read. ( )

nonfiction (casual conversations with people in the deep south). parts of this were dull (I am a traveling writer, I follow in the footsteps of other traveling writers, here are some famous writers who wrote about their travels, here is what I think about what they wrote) but there was also a lot of information revealed just by Theroux's driving around, stopping people, and starting conversations. The South is a complex place with complex problems, and these problems need to be attended to before we can expect to ease any of this unrest. That said, there are still a lot of perspectives that aren't necessarily covered here, but it is a more complete picture than you might have otherwise. ( )