The Vanishing Point

Illuminating … A collection of wryly observed short stories from the octogenarian writer shines a light on the process of ageing … time hasn’t whittled away Theroux’s ability to amuse and provoke … These literary snapshots — a rowdy boyhood summer camp, a visit to a carnival stripper, an elegiac chess game — are poignant and well honed * Financial Times *A master of the short story … Unexpected endings and frequent insight make for a high strike rate, but perhaps best of all are those where Theroux reassumes the biographical mantle of Andre Parent he previously employed for his 1989 novel My Secret History … If this is the last round–up from a grand old man of letters, his final words are good and true ones * The Irish Times *A live-wire read * Sunday Telegraph *One of the best-known travel writers of our times … The title is not just that of a single story, but is the theme of all the tales here, in which characters find themselves at a crucial junction in their lives * The Herald *Theroux has a way of slipping profound truths into his prose, the type that diligent readers copy into notebooks … His writing gives fiction life. He describes the things we all see but don’t mention in polite conversation, and he shines a light on thoughts we actively avoid * Electric Lit *

Paul Theroux has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including the modern classics The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, My Secret History and The Mosquito Coast. He won the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing 2020. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands.

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