… a leisurely, even languid book, reiterative and sometimes simply forgetful. We’re told twice why so many motels are owned by members of the Patel clan from Gujarat, and are twice offered some of Nelson Algren’s well-worn advice to travelers: “Never eat at a place called Mom’s, never play cards with a man called Doc.” …

GEOFFREY C. WARD review – Paul Theroux’s ‘Deep South’

I’ve read all of Paul Theroux’s travel books. He and Krakauer are terrific story tellers. My style of writers.

I’ve always wanted to know more about the U.S. South as well. From my few short visits to Georgia and Alabama, it’s clear my assumptions are mostly wrong.

This one is good. As usual. But he’s definitely mellowed. Sympathetic to Gundamentalists, in fact.

Paul Theroux is in a suspiciously good mood in “Deep South,” his 10th travel book. You begin to wonder if, in his relative old age — Mr. Theroux is 74 — this inimitably caustic novelist and nonfiction writer is mellowing.

“Deep South” recounts road trips taken in Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas and elsewhere below the Mason-Dixon line. …

Point the urbane and skeptical Mr. Theroux, who lives on Cape Cod and in Hawaii, in the direction of churches and gun shows (he visits many of each) and you might expect sulfurous ironies. Not in this book. …

NY Times – DWIGHT GARNER – Review: In ‘Deep South,’ Paul Theroux Takes an Eye-Opening Road Trip

Amazon – Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads 2015

related interview – Paul Theroux on ‘Deep South’