"DAZZLING."--Time"[THEROUX'S] WORK IS DISTINGUISHED BY A SPLENDID EYE FOR DETAIL AND THE TELLING GESTURE; a storyteller's sense of pacing and gift for granting closure to the most subtle progression of events; and the graceful use of language. . . . We are delighted, along with Theroux, by the politeness of the Turks, amazed by the mountainous highlands in Syria, touched by the gesture of an Albanian waitress who will not let him pay for his modest meal. . . . The Pillars of Hercules [is] engrossing and enlightening from start (a damning account of tourists annoying the apes of Gibraltar) to finish (an utterly captivating visit with Paul Bowles in Tangier, worth the price of the book all by itself)."--Chicago Tribune"ENTERTAINING READING . . . WHEN YOU READ THEROUX, YOU'RE TRULY ON A TRIP."--The Boston Sunday Globe"HIS PICARESQUE NARRATIVE IS STUDDED WITH SCENES THAT STICK IN THE MIND. He looks at strangers with a novelist's eye, and his portraits are pleasantly tinged with malice."--The Washington Post Book World"THEROUX AT HIS BEST . . . An armchair trip with Theroux is sometimes dark, but always a delight."--Playboy"AS SATISFYING AS A GLASS OF COOL WINE ON A DUSTY CALABRIAN AFTERNOON . . . With his effortless writing style, observant eye, and take-no-prisoners approach, Theroux is in top form chronicling this 18-month circuit of the Mediterranean."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Bookswagon.com ReviewPaul Theroux has developed one of travel writing's most identifiable styles: always the foreigner, always a bit apart, slightly irascible, but perfectly observant. At last he has ventured to one of the most traveled places on earth, and returned with his most exhilarating, revealing, and eloquent travel book. In this modern version of the Grand Tour, Theroux sets off from Gibraltar, one of the fabled Pillars of Hercules, on a glorious journey around the shores of the Mediterranean.From BooklistImmediately Theroux plunges into his literary travel writer's style, only to pause abruptly and order those who would say, "Oh, there he goes again!" to read no further. But the reader who halts misses a beautiful adventure. Theroux spent a year and a half traveling the shores of the Mediterranean, from Calpe (the Rock of Gibraltar) to Abila (Jebel Musa in Morocco), the twin pillars of Hercules. He insists there is a difference between the acquisitive, entertainment-seeking tourist and the traveler. In Gibraltar, he quotes the Spanish writer, Pio Baroja, "Parece que busco algo; pero no busco nada" [It may look as if I am seeking something; but I am seeking nothing]. Traveling with Theroux is almost pure adventure because he covets his experiences and guards against commitments that could taint them, like Port inThe Sheltering Sky. Theroux's ability to express those experiences, stubbornly gained, is uncanny. The narrative is full of tiny stories, bold encounters with others, and reflections on historical events as well as the Mediterranean writings of Hemingway, Lawrence Durrell, T. E. Lawrence, Kazantzakis, and others as our intrepid adventurer passes through Gibraltar, Zadar in Croatia, Albania, Istanbul, and on through the Levant. From Alexandria, he travels to Cairo and visits Naguib Mahfouz in a hospital, two weeks after an Abdulrahman apostle attacked him. And then, in Morocco, we visit Paul Bowles! In his apartment.Pero no busco nada. I don't think so, Paul.Bonnie SmothersReviewTheroux's writing blends travel with history, and his latest treatment tours the Mediterranean, packing in anecdotes and observations throughout. The armchairs tour include encounters with locals and long-time residents as well as considerations of past and present local color. --Midwest Book Review