Hosted By
"All writing is trying to destroy a stereotype, and the individual that you're writing about -- the figure in the landscape -- is actually the ideal." —Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux's highly acclaimed novels include Blinding Light, My Other Life, and The Mosquito Coast. His 1975 book The Great Railway Bazaar is credited with revitalizing the genre of literary travel writing, and his more recent travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Dark Star Safari, and The Last Train to Zona Verde.
In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Paul talk about Theroux's book Figures in a Landscape, and strategies for writing about the "human architecture of a place" (5:30); the attitude and time-investment required for meaningful travel reportage (20:30); the qualities that determine successful travel writing (25:50); the essential discomforts and obstacles of travel (32:45); the uses and shortcomings of paper maps in developing countries (40:15); and where Paul is traveling next (46:00).
Media mentioned in the 2026 intro
Books, articles, and films mentioned
People mentioned
The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel's 2017 album Lumber.
Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we're happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at [email protected].
"Travel is in our nature. We'll have to counterbalance our new 'normal' when borders reopen to weigh in an extra element of risk." --Dr....
“Imagine you wake up and you get this call telling you that your father died three days after your mother. How do you think...
“Not every fearful decision I’ve made has been bad, but most of my bad decisions have been based in fear.” –Andrew McCarthy In this...
