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.