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The Mosquito Coast

3.78 of 5 stars 3.78 · rating details · 4,090 ratings · 329 reviews

In a breathtaking adventure story, the paranoid and brilliant inventor Allie Fox takes his family to live in the Honduran jungle, determined to build a civilization better than the one they've left. Fleeing from an America he sees as mired in materialism and conformity, he hopes to rediscover a purer life. But his utopian experiment takes a dark turn when his obsessions le...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published June 1st 2006 by Mariner Books (first published 1981)

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Mar 07, 2013 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: what-i-do-for-a-living

I do research in spoken language technology, building software that people can talk to. Right now, our main project is an app that lets beginning language students practice their speaking skills; if you're interested, you can find out more here. We have been working on it for about three and half years, and so far we don't really know if it's a good idea or not. We get mixed messages from the people who have tried it out. Some of them are enthusiastic and say it's really improved their French or...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Lyn Fuchs rated it 4 of 5 stars

Setting off on a big international trip, I asked an eighty-year-old man with the reputation of being a wise counselor for his input on my destination options. I was obsessing over this decision. He responded, "The place doesn't matter, because wherever you go, there you'll be." He was hinting at the annoying truth that my character, not places or circumstances, was hindering my spiritual journey. He was absolutely right.

Paul Theroux wrote a classic book on heading for parts remote with spiritual...more

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Mar 22, 2008 rgb rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have to say that I didn't find anything at all funny about the book. It was a bleak, bleak tale, a heart of darkness, a descent into madness, a story of horrific hypocrisy and abuse. It features an amazingly weak female character, a man who abuses his own children to the point where his two sons openly fantasize about killing him (and for good reason!) even as they are overwhelmed by his personal charisma and energy.

Truthfully, I didn't like the book. I'll never read it again. I do, however, t...more

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Aug 08, 2012 Marvin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Allie Fox is a genius, a fool, a loving father, a madman, a dreamer, and a selfish SOB. He is sort of Don Quixote's evil twin. Both Don Quixote and Allie Fox pursued noble dreams but Quizote didn't imperil his entire family in doing so. But it isn't just the character of Allie Fox that makes The Mosquito Coast such a riveting and brilliant novel. It is the interaction with his his family as they struggle to understand this brilliant but insane man. The book reads like an adventure; an adventure...more

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Dec 28, 2009 Brad rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-mythology

Paul Theroux understands fathers and sons like few authors I have read, but I still struggle with Allie Fox's descent into madness. Part of me feels that we are supposed to struggle with his descent, to feel pity and empathy for him, but part of me feels that I am expected to feel anger and hate towards him -- things I do not and can not.

Whether this is the failure of the author or the reader is beyond me, but it is enough to drop this book out of my true favorites (and it was one of my favouri...more

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Mar 27, 2008 Nomanisan rated it 5 of 5 stars

(read date is a BIG guess--which most of my "read" dates are, so take them with a grain of salt; I am a CRS sufferer)
When I read this book many years ago, I was convinced Theroux was the new great writer. His use of symbolism and foreshadowing is marvelously well-done: smooth, simply a part of the story-telling until one stops to examine it. His story-telling is superb, his characterization beautifully (and at times painfully) real, and his message timely even today. Though I have read nothing e...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Caroline Gordon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, america

I was a bit undecided about this book for a while, it started a bit like a train wreck, you don't want to look away but what you see when you look is a bit disturbing. I thought it may teeter on that line through the book, sometimes funny but always pathetic picture of an eco family escaping the rat race. But I must say the book picks up pace and gradually takes you into the world of a mad man and the people he has under his spell. Wow - what an ending.[return]My main disappointment is the Mothe...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Alex Cross rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was given to me at around age 11 by a man I called my uncle, but was best friends with my father. I have read it probably thirty plus times. Each read brings more to the table, because as I age, the more I understand and see in different lights. This is my favorite all time book. (Which is saying a great deal as I am a prolific reader and love many books). When I was young, this book was the promise of escape, of being able to overcome another's madness and live on, stronger, safer, sa...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Clark Kent rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone, especially those of you who hate the world quite often (as I, sadly, do)

"Más allá de Hatfield y de la casa de Polski, en el borde superior de la artesa del valle, había almenas frondosas, algunas, pálidas como espuma de limonada, y otras, protuberancias oscuras y racimos de arbustos como escarabajos, y empalizadas de ramas reventonas que se avenían a mi idea del entorno de la jungla. Pocas horas antes, cuando nos despertamos, el suelo estaba recubierto de brillantes cuentas de rocío helado."

Hace unos meses leí “La costa de los mosquitos”, quizá el mejor libro que he...more

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Oct 23, 2012 Shawn Davis rated it 2 of 5 stars

Allie Fox - Father - thinks America is focused on the wrong things and on the verge of annihilation. With no explanation to his family he moves them to Honduras.

Not that anyone in his family knows where they are going - Father makes them leave everything in their snug house and puts them on a boat where they find out their destination from the other passengers.

Father doesn't believe in school education. Father thinks the best place for his family is in the middle of nowhere, building their own s...more Allie Fox - Father - thinks America is focused on the wrong things and on the verge of annihilation. With no explanation to his family he moves them to Honduras.

Not that anyone in his family knows where they are going - Father makes them leave everything in their snug house and puts them on a boat where they find out their destination from the other passengers.

Father doesn't believe in school education. Father thinks the best place for his family is in the middle of nowhere, building their own self-sufficient society. Father simultaneously preaches the nobility of the undeveloped societies while treating the local Indians he contacts with extreme contempt. Father believes the secret to a better world is ice.

Father is crazy and Mother is weak and the four children are caught in the grip of his insanity without any hope of being rescued.

I struggled with the rating for this book. On the one hand, I absolutely detested the story. It was too much like Heart of Darkness for my comfort, but told from the viewpoint of a child caught in the middle of the growing craziness. Father was a horrendous person, and I had absolutely no sympathy for him or for any of his wild schemes. The way he treated people throughout the book had me spending most of my reading time hoping someone would punch some sense into him.

Mother was weak. So weak that she only made token efforts to protect her children from her husband's growing insanity. Several times, even in the beginning of the book, various children were put into life threatening situations and she only rarely made even the smallest protest. She didn't even demand to know where the family was headed, just gave up everything she owned and headed off into the sunset without a fact or question.

The story was horrible and I could find nothing redeeming in it.

But Theroux's writing is absolutely brilliant. It takes a great writer to make a terrible story compelling enough that a person keeps reading to the end, which is exactly what happened with this book. I kept reading it, despite hating Father much more than is warranted for a fictional character. Despite wanting to shake Mother into stepping up to her parental responsibilities, I kept reading.

And, at the end, I was left wondering how everything really turned out - what happened to the children? Did they stay in Honduras? Go back to the US? Did Mother grow a spine?

The story was less than a one. The writing was more than a five. (less)

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Oct 09, 2012 Keryn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: human-drama, adventure

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A truly magnificent read, and completely unexpected, as I was lent this novel from my cousin who found it at a second hand shop, and I started it as a change from my previous light-hearted books, then could not put it down. I kept being reminded of aspects from Lord of the Flies and Things Fall Apart, as the 'chaos theory' is a theme that I found ran through the story, tied into the moral responsibility of parenthood. And of course it is in a jungle setting (Honduras - in an area known as Mosqui...more

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Mar 18, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-stars

Embarrassingly, it took me at least six months to finish this book. Why? I can't be sure other than the story was so heavy on me that I had to take it one page at a time and savour it. The book was brilliantly written, and I was sad to see it come to an end.

The plot in a nutshell is this: Allie has had enough of America and decides to pack up his family and move down to South America to live off the land in peace. He is a genius inventor so their life takes on normality in no time. Along the wa...more

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Oct 12, 2011 Lianne added it

I've had this book on my secondary shelves for decades. Paul Theroux is one of my favorite creative nonfiction writers.I heard him recently interviewed after publishing his latest anthology of travel called "The Tao of Travel." In the interview he referred to taking a train ride through the jungle and being inspired to write "The Mosquito Coast." I was curious to see an example of how a travel experience could lead to the writing of fiction. "The Mosquito Coast" occupies a place in the literary...more

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Sep 23, 2011 Emily Wortman-wunder rated it 4 of 5 stars

I listened to this book on tape, for some reason thinking that it would be...beachy, in an "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" sort of way. Erm...not so. Unrelated: it isn't recommended that you hold your breath while driving. Or shout, "Oh my GOD, the guy's a psycho, get OUT!" So I guess that the book does have plenty of beach-reading suspense; the writing is also fantastic, which if you've read any Theroux you'll know: the guy isn't lazy with his descriptions or his sentences and the whole thi...more

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Aug 09, 2011 Arlene rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book on the recommendation of a friend. It was a good story that held my interest, although I didn't especially enjoy the subject.

Allie Fox, definitely the head of his household, is an inventor, who thinks the USA is going to hell in a hand basket. He exerts total control over his household - his wife and his 4 children. He keeps them out of school, and carefully controls what they do and what they eat. They are all home-schooled, and extremely advanced for their ages.

The story is t...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Chris Walker rated it 4 of 5 stars

A ripping good yarn about the father from hell, this book is now nearly 30 years old but the descriptions of the signs of a corrupt and decadent America still strike a chord. At times the characters suffer from an astonishing lack of introspection for the sake of a thrilling plotline (the mother in particular takes the expression, Love is Blind, to new depths) and in between the peak events in the story the writing is a little patchy until the plot picks up steam again. However, a strength of th...more

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Apr 24, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book as part of a class on the American Novel. We were focusing specifically on travel novels and how American writers depict Americans abroad and their interactions with the novel. That said, this was one of my favorite books we read this semester.

The Mosquito Coast is about Allie Fox, an inventor living in the Northeastern US with his wife and four kids, only he's completely dissatisified with America (and God and everything, basically). He moves his family to Hondoras to help them...more

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Feb 28, 2010 Patrick Gibson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-literature

It’s not the craziness and hypocrisy of American evangelical Christians and other nuts building utopias, or realizing their personal dreams among the ignorant and poor peoples of the under-developed world, but writing descriptions of rare sights:

"It sank [an outboard engine:] into the weeds and began bleeding rainbows."

of nature:

"The howler monkeys were drumming in the thunder rumble across the black lagoon, and the rains boom and crackle made a deep cave of the earth and filled the sky with...more It’s not the craziness and hypocrisy of American evangelical Christians and other nuts building utopias, or realizing their personal dreams among the ignorant and poor peoples of the under-developed world, but writing descriptions of rare sights:

"It sank [an outboard engine:] into the weeds and began bleeding rainbows."

of nature:

"The howler monkeys were drumming in the thunder rumble across the black lagoon, and the rains boom and crackle made a deep cave of the earth and filled the sky with dangerous boulders, too big to see. And all around us in the wet and dark was this dark edge of monkeys."

and thoughts and feelings (of Charlie, the first-person narrator):

"Once, I had believed that Father was so much taller than me, he saw things I missed. I excused adults who disagreed with me, and blamed myself because I was so short. But this was something I could judge. I had seen it. Lies made me uncomfortable, and Fathers lie, which was also a blind boast, sickened me and separated me from him."

The last quote is an example of Therouxs grasp of the way a teenager thinks (in this he is very much like Ian McEwan). But in the end it is the mind of the perfectionist near-religious nut, Father (Allie Fox) that stands out. His crazy philosophy, the way his mind works is what drives a great part of the message of this book home:

"Man sprang out of this faulty world, Charlie. Therefore, I’m imperfect. What’s the use? It’s a bad design, the human body Skin’s not thick enough, bones aren’t strong enough, too little hair, no claws, no fangs. Drop us and we break... We weren’t meant to stand up straight, our posture exposes the most sensitive parts of the body, heart and genitals. We should be on all fours, hairier, more resistant to heat and cold, with tails. What happened to my tail, that’s what I’d like to know. I had to turn inventor. I was too weak to live any other way... Yes, sir, I’m going to live on all fours from now on. And that’s what I’m fit for, hands and knees!"

With such an extremist, furious madman of a father, it’s no wonder Charlie, the narrator, and his family, fear him as the followers of some ancient religion would fear their god after going through some terrible natural catastrophe or war:

"There were moments when we half-expected him to show up, although we knew he was dead-- expected him to appear somewhere astern and fling himself aboard and howl at us... Seabirds rested on this boat. I saw them, and heard Fathers howls in the wind... It made us watchful. We never talked about him, not a word."
(less)

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Jul 10, 2010 Theophilus (Theo) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A story of a survivalist who takes his family from the United States to escape the mad traffic, out of control commercialism, and crime of the city near their home on a farm. Stuff that we normally throw away the lead character finds and uses to create, what he thinks will be a secluded paradise for himself and his family in Honduras. What does he find there? A zealous missionary and his family living right up the river who plays taped sermons for his converts among the natives. When our hero de...more

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May 12, 2013 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Allie Fox not only thinks he is right, he thinks everyone else is wrong. In fact, every person and thing is so wrong, he can see nothing good in New England, and everything right about the life he creates for his family on the "Mosquito Coast". His psyche is so defended against being wrong, he cannot see what he is doing to his wife and small children as they become fully jeopardized by the privations he has exposed them to.

Theroux succeeds because he touches familiar chords. Allie Fox's attitud...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

“The Mosquito Coast” will go on my to-buy list, but definitely not because it was a feel-good story that gave me hope. It is a fascinating tale about a schizophrenic man who leaves the horrors of civilization and materialism by taking his family to live in the primitive jungles of Honduras. In the beginning, I loved Allie Fox. He is an inventor, a genius, and his ideals are much aligned with mine. At times I myself wish I could carry my family off to where they would be self-sufficient and compl...more

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May 27, 2009 Anastasia added it

Shelves: didnt-finish

Although I agree with some of the views of the protagonist's father, I find the character so obnoxious that I don't even know if I can read any more.

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Jan 04, 2009 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

We eat when we're not hungry, drink when we are not thirsty, buy what we don't need, and throw away everything that's useful. Don't sell a man what he wants - sell him what he doesn't want. Pretend he's got eight feet and two stomachs and money to burn. That's not illogical - it's evil.

I loved this book! Theroux's writing is truly amazing and really pulled me into the story from the first page. The narrator is a 13 year old boy whose father, Allie Fox, takes their family to Honduras to escape Am...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Judith rated it 4 of 5 stars

I saw the movie based on this book some years ago. It made an impression. I remembered the family going to a remote place and I remember the father, how awful he was, but I did not remember a lot of details otherwise.

The teenage son, Charlie, is telling the story. He sees his father as many see their fathers: something special, can do no wrong, knows everything. And his father certainly is some of that. He is nothing average.

Allie Fox is a mechanical genius. He can make just about anything out...more I saw the movie based on this book some years ago. It made an impression. I remembered the family going to a remote place and I remember the father, how awful he was, but I did not remember a lot of details otherwise.

The teenage son, Charlie, is telling the story. He sees his father as many see their fathers: something special, can do no wrong, knows everything. And his father certainly is some of that. He is nothing average.

Allie Fox is a mechanical genius. He can make just about anything out of anything, and he does. Living on the east coast, he makes a living by repairing this and that, inventing, and living on little. His wife and four children go along with it, the children "home-schooled". Fox rails against the consumerist trends in the U.S., says it is all going to hell. In fact, he rails against almost everything. When he talks of the migrant workers, though, he calls them "savages", and seems to have a kind of respect for them. He does think they made a huge mistake by leaving their country and coming to the U.S.

Finally a time comes when he wants to deal no more with any of it, and he takes off with his family and a truckload of outdoors equipment, not even taking extra clothes. The family boards a commercial ship, sharing space with three other families, including a large missionary family. Fox is no fan of religion and doesn't make much of a secret of it. After many days at sea they land at the Republic of Honduras. Where many of the "savages" up north came from. Fox is looking for primitive man, people not infected by the consumer culture. He and his family head inland.

When they find their place (actually purchased), they immediately begin building. With tools he brought and materials he scrounged in Honduras, Fox sets everyone to work on decks, buildings, and a large refrigerator he invented. He makes friends with the natives who live in the area, and puts them to work. He tells everyone he is "working for them", that he will do what they want, but in fact he does what he wants. And that is work long hours, hardly eat, build build build. He does not take advantage of native plants but instead grows crops. He considers scavengers the worst of the worst and believes that people who eat what naturally grows in the jungle are simply scavengers.

The children do what they are told but they do get some time off. With this time they retreat farther into the jungle and built their own little village, using just what is naturally available and eating the foods readily found there. They tell Fox nothing about this because they know he would deride it. Lazy, scavenging, no purpose. For example, he would shake his head at a rope swing because it doesn't have a constructive purpose all the time.

As the months go on Fox's village fills out. Most would say yes, we're done, let's relax, but not Fox. He starts talking about drilling far into the ground, getting geothermal energy. He wants to "straighten out" the river. God didn't finish, didn't do a good job, is his premise.

His obsession becomes worse and worse, and when some unwelcome intruders come along with guns, he goes over the edge. Ultimately, he and his family move out and he proclaims that he had it wrong, that he is changed. But he really isn't. The family wends its way upriver with Fox proclaiming, when the rains come, that the world is over, that they are among the last, that the U.S. has been destroyed.

I have read other books by Theroux. You can't trust him. You don't know how it's going to turn out. I don't think this book has a particularly spectacular ending but it's fitting. A portrait of obsession. (less)

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Jun 28, 2012 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

In the beginning, I was over the moon about this book. It was so intriguing, so well written, the characters were unique (well, the narrator and his father, anyway), and the story seemed to have so much promise. As I read on, I noticed some humor creeping in, which I resisted, because I wanted this to be straight realism, but things got slightly and slightly more Elkinsy, and still I resisted but still I was enjoying things. Then, maybe around page 60 or so, something seemed to shift, and I coul...more In the beginning, I was over the moon about this book. It was so intriguing, so well written, the characters were unique (well, the narrator and his father, anyway), and the story seemed to have so much promise. As I read on, I noticed some humor creeping in, which I resisted, because I wanted this to be straight realism, but things got slightly and slightly more Elkinsy, and still I resisted but still I was enjoying things. Then, maybe around page 60 or so, something seemed to shift, and I couldn't figure out what it was. I just wasn't excited to pick the thing up. I even put it aside completely for a few days to read a Harper's (which, incidentally, is where I was first introduced to Theroux). I went back to the book and quickly realized what it was: The narrator's father, who really is the book's main character, has to be the most unlikeable character I've ever come across. Granted, he's exactly the kind of person I most despise and least respect in life, which is just my hangup, but still. He's basically a maniac; more specifically he's obsessed with himself, which manifests itself through a drive to prove himself by inventing things and proclaiming his hatred for the developed world (though he also hates savages). He couldn't give a damn for his kids and often uses them to prove a point by putting them in life-threatening situations. His wife he doesn't seem to care about either, though she remains devoted to him. And worst of all, he runs his mouth constantly, never (ever) admits when he's at fault, thinks he knows everything about everything . . . he's not meant to be a sympathetic character (I hope), but I simply couldn't stand hanging out with him for close to 400 pages. It was a shame, because it would have been an interesting book, and the writing is superb, but dude was just so off-putting I had to race through and be done with it.

It's interesting how much attention Theroux gives to the narrator and his father, and how little he gives to the wife and other kids. They're straight-up intentional side- or half-characters, and I guess this works, but I would have liked to get to know them a bit more. I couldn't tell you how many kids are in the family. Five, I think. Anyway, clearly some fabulous (meaning fabulistic) stuff going on here, and not the realist novel I wanted. Would I recommend it? I dunno. Theroux's got a lot of books out there. This one let me down, which probably isn't the author's fault.(less)

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Oct 16, 2011 Arcadius rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: f-latin-america

An unforgettable tale of a brilliant eccentric and nonconformist who declines into oppressive madness, all seen through the eyes of his 13 year-old son.

The character of Allie Fox is very powerfully drawn – an overbearing but charismatic monster we can’t help sympathising with (initially, at least) because to the youthful narrator, he is God. An annoying and unreasonable God to be sure, but God none the less. And Allie’s initial antics, culminating in the absurd ice-manufacturing plant in the mid...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Christopher Rex rated it 4 of 5 stars

I saw this movie back in the 1980s and didn't really "get" it. I think I was expecting something along the lines of Indiana Jones, seeing as I was obsessed w/ "Raiders" and Harrison Ford was the star in "Mosquito Coast." I can't remember if the movie was good or not.

First and foremost, I think he was poorly cast. I did not imagine Harrison Ford in my mind while reading this book - not at all.

The book is excellent. The story is a fantastic exploration of subjects ranging from environmental studi...more I saw this movie back in the 1980s and didn't really "get" it. I think I was expecting something along the lines of Indiana Jones, seeing as I was obsessed w/ "Raiders" and Harrison Ford was the star in "Mosquito Coast." I can't remember if the movie was good or not.

First and foremost, I think he was poorly cast. I did not imagine Harrison Ford in my mind while reading this book - not at all.

The book is excellent. The story is a fantastic exploration of subjects ranging from environmental studies, engineering, but most extensively psychology. Exactly how far can "obsession" go? Allie Fox certainly demonstrates that obsession (and a healthy dose of "God Complex") knows no real bounds whatsoever. A brilliantly crafted character. Though the other characters are somewhat "sacrificed" in their depth next to Allie, it doesn't detract from the overall tale at all - nor does it make the supporting-cast any less interesting. The reader is immediately drawn into Fox's world and taken on a rollercoaster ride following his obsession to "build a better world" and the (insane) journey that ends up creating.

Though one starts out "sympathizing" (or "empathizing" and/or "understanding") Fox's beliefs and pontifications about the state of the world, his obsession quickly takes the reader down an increasingly dark path. At the start, I found myself actually wanting Fox to succeed, though knowing that it wasn't going to happen. The real "story" here is the journey (descent) into Allie's mind and the physical actions that leads him towards - taking his family with him.

The writing in the book is excellent. Clear, crisp, descriptive and very engaging. The book is easy to read without being simple. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There are a multitude of interesting allegories throughout (especially at the very end) and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. I'm definitely interesting in returning to Paul Theroux again after this one. I also want to re-see the movie to get an idea of how "pure" it is to the book. I'm not sure how it could be in that there is a richness to the book's story that seems hard to capture.(less)

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Sep 09, 2011 Cherie rated it 4 of 5 stars

My ratings system is as follows. One star is GOOD. The book is entertaining, easy to read and you don't want to stop reading because something about the book is compelling you not to. Two stars is GREAT! This time the story is not only entertaining, but highly creative, unique, easy to read and hard to put down. Three stars is EXCELLENT. Here the book has all aspects of one and two stars, but now the book is thought and emotionally provoking. Four is AWESOME. This is the read that is not only cr...more

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Sep 15, 2010 Jade rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

There can be no argument that this book is not brilliantly contrived and written. Theroux creates a vast range of characters, with each ones own depth being interlinked and interchangable with that of Allie, the father and centre of this novel. The novel is portrayed through the eye's of the eldest son, Charlie and shows his relationship with his father moving from awe inspiring to hatred and fear. I think that the surroundings in which this book is set where imaginatively woven and really broug...more

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Oct 23, 2011 Rob Maynard rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So much literature has passed me by unread that I am just discovering books now that everyone(including Hollywood) discovered long ago. I'm mainly aware of Theroux from travel pieces of his published in Outside Magazine in the last twenty years or so. I want to read one of his non-fiction books, but stumbled across a first edition hardback copy of Mosquito Coast at my local library branch and decided to dive in. Much to my surprise the family drama/nightmare/jungle story of the Fox Family is a p...more So much literature has passed me by unread that I am just discovering books now that everyone(including Hollywood) discovered long ago. I'm mainly aware of Theroux from travel pieces of his published in Outside Magazine in the last twenty years or so. I want to read one of his non-fiction books, but stumbled across a first edition hardback copy of Mosquito Coast at my local library branch and decided to dive in. Much to my surprise the family drama/nightmare/jungle story of the Fox Family is a page turning, gut-wrenching potboiler of a book that takes in everything from the rot of the American Dream, technology, colonial rule, Jungle conditions and the role of The Church among others. It's easy to see why Peter Weir wanted to make a movie of it.

The relationship between the Dad, Allie Fox, and his oldest son Charlie and that of Charlie to younger brother Jerry ring absolutely true in the context of the Father-Son-Brother dynamic. The loyal jungle boat captain and native retainer Mr. Haddy is one of the most well crafted characters of his type in my experience as a reader. He seems a buffoon at the beginning of the book and by the time the whole twisted tale is told he is triumphant. Theroux writes his character in pidgin Caribbean dialect that seems plausible once you've read over it a few times. Writing in dialect is daring, and a true test of a real ear in an author, IMHO.

The female characters don't carry much of the action and the author delves very little into their interior lives. It's enough that the mother tries her best make her kids think everything is going to be fine. But the male relationships and the alpha male father trip that Allie Fox is on make this novel ring true to any son who ever thought his old man was crazy, and in the context of the story, terrifying at times.

Allie Fox to me is an American original in the same line as Nick Caraway or Dean Moriarty and Hunter Thompson, full of bitter ruminations about the rot beneath the veneer of American Society and on the road to madness from dealing with the inherent contradictions we all run across each day across this great land. Things like Prohibition, the Church, the Truth, Politics, Career. And yes, I'm aware Hunter Thompson was a real person, and not just the recurring characters in his own books.

So, read The Mosquito Coasts if you haven't. The turn of events and characters and denouements throughout the book will keep you until the finish. I'm going to check out the movie, which I've never seen. I don't see Harrison Ford as Allie, but I'll give it a watch.(less)

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About Paul Theroux

Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work is The Great Railway Bazaar (1975), a travelogue about a trip he made by train from Great Britain through Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, through South Asia, then South-East Asia, up through East Asia, as far east as Japan, and then back across Russia to his point of origin. Although perhaps best know...more

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“I guessed it was a migratory bird, too innocent to be wary of the spiders in the jungle grass. It worried be to think that we were a little like that bird” — 1 person liked it

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