Theroux travels from Cairo to Cape Town, and reflects on the Africa he knew 20 years ago versus Africa today. 

I was struck by how his comments so elegantly stated the case for what I crudely tried to state about technology and wilderness travel in another discussion thread. 

He wrote, "Out of touch in Africa was where I wanted to be....  Travel in the African bush can also be a sort of revenge on cellular phones and fax machines, on telephones and the daily paper, on the creepier aspects of globalization that allow anyone who wishes to get his insinuating hands on you...  I was going to Africa for the best reason -- in a spirit of discovery; and for the pettiest -- simply to disappear, ...  As Huck put it, "lighting out for the territory."

prouboy

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!