The Peace Corps is a sort of Howard Johnsons on the main drag into maturity. – Paul Theroux
When I started writing, I did have some idealised notion of my dad as a writer. But I have less and less of a literary rivalry with him as Ive gone on. I certainly dont feel I need his approval, although maybe thats because Im confident that Ive got it. – Paul Theroux
Mark Twain was a great traveler and he wrote three or four great travel books. I wouldnt say that Im a travel novelist but rather a novelist who travels – and who uses travel as a background for finding stories of places. – Paul Theroux
Death is an endless night so awful to contemplate that it can make us love life and value it with such passion that it may be the ultimate cause of all joy and all art. – Paul Theroux