Estonia: A Ramble Through The Periphery HC - Hardcover

Theroux, Alexander

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1606994654 ISBN 13: 9781606994658

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books, 2011

Synopsis

Any journey with Alexander Theroux is an education. Possessed of a razor-sharp and hyper-literate mind, he stands beside Thomas Pynchon as one of the sharpest cultural commentators of our time. For Theroux, the country of Estonia and its people became a puzzle as he accompanied his wife there for a nine-month stay. Estonia is as biting and satirical as it is witty and urbane; as curious and lyrical as it is brash and irreverent. It marks a new highlight in an already stellar career and a book that continues Fantagraphics' exceptional line of prose works.

About this title

Review:

...Estonia bristles with fascinating detail. --Ian Thompson

...Mr. Theroux largely uses Estonia as a space for his own purposes, transforming this admirable country into a grotesque but clever caricature perfect for use as... a stage for Mr. Theroux's verbal pyrotechnics and some fine jokes... I laughed a lot, but guiltily. --Andrew Stuttaford

Catch the wit and the venom, the depth and the breadth, of this honest account of 'a strange, unlooked-for place at the back of beyond' where 'the fascination of its strangeness' renders it a fitting subject for a curious report by a memorably talented, ever off-kilter, chronicler of oddity. [Rating] 8/10 --John L. Murphy"

Mr. Theroux largely uses Estonia as a space for his own purposes, transforming this admirable country into a grotesque but clever caricature perfect for use as... a stage for Mr. Theroux's verbal pyrotechnics and some fine jokes... I laughed a lot, but guiltily. --Andrew Stuttaford"

Estonia bristles with fascinating detail. --Ian Thompson"

Some of the most interesting travel books happen by accident. .... Despite all [his] genuine delight in the quaint, not merely linguistic but extending also to Estonian architecture, what Mr. Theroux mostly shows us about the country and its people is exasperation, irritation, furious rage. . . He takes endless potshots at their food . . .but by the time you . . . find a section titled 'What did I hate about Estonia, ' it s no surprise. --Martin Rubin"

The best travel writing is uncomfortable and, perversely, obviates the need to see the place yourself. I've begun reading Alexander Theroux on Estonia from Fantagraphics and it is the god d@mned best. "

About the Author:

Alexander Theroux is an award-winning novelist, poet, and teacher whose prose works include Laura Warholic or, The Sexual Intellectual, Estonia, and the two artist monographs The Strange Case of Edward Gorey and The Enigma of Al Capp. His novel Darconville's Cat was chosen by Anthony Burgess as one of the 99 greatest post-war novels. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and children.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1606994654
• ISBN 13: 9781606994658
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288
• Editor: Groth Gary