Finished it!

What a great book. Theroux doesn't seem to get much time away from the beggars and thieves (only a few days "wilderness" canoeing), but it's a superb insight into real-life Africa nonetheless. Like all of Theroux's books, the author plays a key role, and his emotions become your emotions.

If you're interested in Africa, I can highly recommend Ryszard Kapuscinski's "The Emperor". It's about the regime of Haile Selassie in Ethiopia, but it's neither dry political science or a biography of a dead dictator most people don't care much about anymore. Rather, it's a pastiche of stories from people who worked in his government: doormen, finance ministers, mid-level bureaucrats, people with jobs you couldn't imagine even existed. Unlike Theroux's book, the author plays no role, there's only the stories. But the end result is an incredible book, a tour-de-force from one of the 20th century's top journalists. Your mind will be boggled, I promise.

Thanks again for the recommendation - keep 'em coming!