--- product_id: 35262455 title: "Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads" price: "7.35 OMR" currency: OMR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.com.om/products/35262455-deep-south-four-seasons-on-back-roads store_origin: OM region: Oman --- # Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads **Price:** 7.35 OMR **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads - **How much does it cost?** 7.35 OMR with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.om](https://www.desertcart.com.om/products/35262455-deep-south-four-seasons-on-back-roads) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description “Theroux’s eye for landscape remains as sharp as ever . . . It’s Theroux’s remarkable gift for getting strangers to reveal themselves that makes going along for this ride worthwhile.” — New York Times Book Review Paul Theroux has spent the past fifty years roaming the globe, describing his encounters with remote people and far-flung places in ten best-selling travel books. Now, for the first time, he explores a part of America—the Deep South. Setting out on a winding road trip, Theroux discovers a region of architectural and artistic wonders, incomparable music, mouth-watering cuisine—and also some of the worst schools, medical care, housing, and unemployment rates in the nation. Yet, no matter where he goes, Theroux meets the unsung heroes of the South, the people who, despite it all, never left, and also those who found their way home and devoted their lives to rebuilding a place they could never live without. “Paul Theroux’s latest travel memoir had me at hello . . . Theroux pulls no punches in his quest to understand this overlooked margin of American life.” — Boston Globe “A vivid contemporary portrait of rural life . . . a deeply affecting personal account.” — Atlanta Journal-Constitution Review: A joyful (and fearful) eye-opener - Like all of his other travel books, the narrative of his encounters with the people and the land is a joy to read. But his revelations of the human condition and character of the people living in the areas that he visits were an eye-opener for me. I found it easy to accept the conditions in Dark Star Safari, but HERE??? Thank you for the great read and awareness. Review: Your Grumpy Old Uncle's Travelogue - Before I tell you what reading Deep South is like I want to be clear that I bought and read Dark Star Safari, The Last Train to Zona Verde, and Riding the Iron Rooster. Sure, that is only four books out of a ton he has written but it does say that I truly enjoy his writing and I’ve read enough to know he has some axes to grind and is pompous. But as far as I’m concerned, some people earn a right to be pompous and he is certainly one of those. Here is what it is like to read his most recent travelogue: Imagine yourself in a large family room cramped with some family members but also guests whom you have no idea how they got into your family’s house. The thermostat is like 80 degrees and the conversation is loud and ranges from the inconsequential and trivial to some strands of poetic utterances detached like threads on the afghan thrown across your aging uncle’s lap. And for whatever reason—you can invent one—you are honored and stuck beside your aging, grumpy uncle for the duration of your visit which is to say about all day long. A good six hours anyway. During that time of asphyxiated bluster, your uncle regales you with stories. Some of the stories are delicious, far more so than the appetizers cold on the plate handed to you. But invariably and without fail, the old man always returns to his pet peeves. He absolutely hates Bill Clinton and no matter the story or circumstances of whatever it is he is trying to tell you, he comes back to Bill and uses him like a doorstop. Kicks him good and hard beneath the lip of the door and then sets sail again to some more stories. Included in his grumpy dissertation is a recurring condescension to anything remotely religious. He just cannot comprehend these people who pray and worship. He is blinkered to a fault. What you realize is, this old guy—as much as you love him—is offering you a whig travelogue. Herbert Butterfield defined Whig history as “the study of the past with one eye, so to speak, upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history….” (I am indebted to an essay in the NYRB on Whig Science by Steven Weinberg for this reference). Your grumpy old uncle, in this case Paul Theroux, cannot tell a travel story without getting in the way. Granted, this is difficult in writing about travel since the traveler is the one seeing and describing what is experienced. But one cannot help but feel pity for someone who moralizes, pontificates and otherwise pounds the pulpit for hours when all we really want to hear are vivid descriptions of the people and places he has met along the way. Oh, you’ll get that and when you do it will be a like a fresh breeze blowing through that open door door-stopped by Bill C. You’ll finish this book saying what you say when you finally get to extricate yourself from the family reunion. “I’m glad that’s over.” Four years later, I reread this book as I drove myself through the South. I am raising the stars from 3 to 4. I think I was initially unfair. It is not his best book by a long shot but he really has a keen eye and writes so well. His grasp of literature and his courage in asking question and befriending people are laudable traits, especially for a travel writer. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #134,082 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #6 in General Southern US Travel Guides #23 in East South Central US Travel Books #27 in South Atlantic United States Travel Books | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 2,701 Reviews | ## Images ![Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cpWhIJIgL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A joyful (and fearful) eye-opener *by B***D on July 2, 2026* Like all of his other travel books, the narrative of his encounters with the people and the land is a joy to read. But his revelations of the human condition and character of the people living in the areas that he visits were an eye-opener for me. I found it easy to accept the conditions in Dark Star Safari, but HERE??? Thank you for the great read and awareness. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Your Grumpy Old Uncle's Travelogue *by M***E on December 12, 2015* Before I tell you what reading Deep South is like I want to be clear that I bought and read Dark Star Safari, The Last Train to Zona Verde, and Riding the Iron Rooster. Sure, that is only four books out of a ton he has written but it does say that I truly enjoy his writing and I’ve read enough to know he has some axes to grind and is pompous. But as far as I’m concerned, some people earn a right to be pompous and he is certainly one of those. Here is what it is like to read his most recent travelogue: Imagine yourself in a large family room cramped with some family members but also guests whom you have no idea how they got into your family’s house. The thermostat is like 80 degrees and the conversation is loud and ranges from the inconsequential and trivial to some strands of poetic utterances detached like threads on the afghan thrown across your aging uncle’s lap. And for whatever reason—you can invent one—you are honored and stuck beside your aging, grumpy uncle for the duration of your visit which is to say about all day long. A good six hours anyway. During that time of asphyxiated bluster, your uncle regales you with stories. Some of the stories are delicious, far more so than the appetizers cold on the plate handed to you. But invariably and without fail, the old man always returns to his pet peeves. He absolutely hates Bill Clinton and no matter the story or circumstances of whatever it is he is trying to tell you, he comes back to Bill and uses him like a doorstop. Kicks him good and hard beneath the lip of the door and then sets sail again to some more stories. Included in his grumpy dissertation is a recurring condescension to anything remotely religious. He just cannot comprehend these people who pray and worship. He is blinkered to a fault. What you realize is, this old guy—as much as you love him—is offering you a whig travelogue. Herbert Butterfield defined Whig history as “the study of the past with one eye, so to speak, upon the present is the source of all sins and sophistries in history….” (I am indebted to an essay in the NYRB on Whig Science by Steven Weinberg for this reference). Your grumpy old uncle, in this case Paul Theroux, cannot tell a travel story without getting in the way. Granted, this is difficult in writing about travel since the traveler is the one seeing and describing what is experienced. But one cannot help but feel pity for someone who moralizes, pontificates and otherwise pounds the pulpit for hours when all we really want to hear are vivid descriptions of the people and places he has met along the way. Oh, you’ll get that and when you do it will be a like a fresh breeze blowing through that open door door-stopped by Bill C. You’ll finish this book saying what you say when you finally get to extricate yourself from the family reunion. “I’m glad that’s over.” Four years later, I reread this book as I drove myself through the South. I am raising the stars from 3 to 4. I think I was initially unfair. It is not his best book by a long shot but he really has a keen eye and writes so well. His grasp of literature and his courage in asking question and befriending people are laudable traits, especially for a travel writer. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Engrossing and Powerful *by M***J on February 1, 2016* I'd read several of Theroux's early train-travel novels, like The Great Railway Bazaar, and admired them greatly: his use of language is superb, and the books took you to an exotic place and made you feel you were there, with the sights and smells of a foreign culture leaping from the page. Deep South is different: Theroux is on American soil, and his transport is a car, not an iron horse. But many of the elements are still there: small towns in the Deep South, the grist for the book, are far from the American mainstream. He is frequently reminded of Africa and India, where poverty is deep-seated and a kind of hopelessness often permeates. Indeed, most of the people in the book - many of them black - are struggling to get by, still facing a kind of institutionalized racism and lack of opportunity. Jobs have evaporated, migrating to China or Mexico, and the land itself, rich and often beautiful, is blighted everywhere by rusted shacks and abandoned storefronts. Even the whites (apart from the genteel upper crust) are dispirited, resentful and apparently resigned to a second-class citizenship. What's most impressive in many ways in not just Theroux's power of description, which is prodigious. It's his reporting and his myriad of conversations with people, many of them black, who open up to him about their lives and their hopes and fears. The conversations are honest, revealing, galvanizing. In a number of cases, he befriends people and meets up with them months later to extend the dialogue. But for a Northerner who has little experience with the small-town South, the book is endlessly depressing. Theroux reminds us that so much of U.S. support (public and private) for foreign countries could have gone to rebuilding some of the towns and industries that have spiraled into decay. What is left today is a region that - far from the glittering towers of Atlanta -- is poor and getting poorer, mired in decades of gradual dissolution that shows little hope of recovery. Ultimately, then, it's a gloomy book, but a powerful one energized by the people and the places he visits and the reporter's eye he brings with him. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.com.om/products/35262455-deep-south-four-seasons-on-back-roads](https://www.desertcart.com.om/products/35262455-deep-south-four-seasons-on-back-roads) --- *Product available on Desertcart Oman* *Store origin: OM* *Last updated: 2026-08-28*