The Old Patagonian Express
By Train Through the Americas
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · November 7, 1989
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER.
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- Who it’s for
- A train journey becomes a lively study in encounters, detours, and the art of paying attention.
- Themes
- Train travel, Encounters with locals, Literary encounters
- Genres
- Travel Writing, South America Travel, Train Travel
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For younger readers: Epic Adventures, Trains, Locomotive
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Start with this bookAbout this book
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER. The Old Patagonian Express chronicles Paul Theroux’s train journey from his home in Boston, Massachusetts to the foot of South America, in 1978. Full of witty and sharp observations, Theroux goes out of his way to talk to as many locals as possible along the way.
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Starting with a rush-hour subway ride to South Station in Boston to catch the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, Theroux winds up on the poky, wandering Old Patagonian Express steam engine, which comes to a halt in a desolate land of cracked hills and thorn bushes. But, with Theroux, the view along the way is what matters: the monologuing Mr. Thornberry in Costa Rica, the bogus priest of Cali, and the celebrated writer, Jorge Luis Borges, who delights in having Theroux read Robert Louis Stevenson to him.
The Long Way South
A train journey becomes a lively study in encounters, detours, and the art of paying attention.
Come here for
- Witty, sharp observations from Boston to the foot of South America
- Conversations with locals, and a visit with Jorge Luis Borges
Expect
- A wandering rail journey where the view along the way matters
- A sharp-eyed, conversational account of travel
Where it sits
| Travel Writing | 69% |
|---|---|
| South America Travel | 38% |
| Train Travel | 34% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- North American History
- South American History
- Southern U.S. History
- World History
Show all 8 publisher categories
- Railroads
- Railroad History
- Railroad Photo Books
- Central America Travel
- Authors
- Paul Theroux
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- November 7, 1989
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Train travel · Encounters with locals · Literary encounters
- Reading lane
- North American History