I've read Paul Theroux's writing in Smithsonian and always enjoyed it, so I thought I would try a full book. I liked it enough that I plan to read some of his other works in the future. However, I felt that it was a little bit tedious and would have been better about 100 pages shorter. I felt that his definition of "Deep South" was a little different than mine, as his encompassed Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas. Where were Louisiana and Texas? Don't get me wrong, I loved his descriptions of the Arkansas Ozarks, but I'm not sure they qualify as deep south in my opinion. I also found it hard to remember characters between sections. Theroux revists some of the same folks on each seasonal trip and I sometimes had difficulty remembering what had happened with each person in the previous part. Overall though, a good armchair travel read.