Rating: 
Summary: Fact or fiction?
Review: I found myself totally immersed in the first section about the time in the leper village as a Peace Corp volunteer. I was, of course, utterly convinced that it was autobiographical, and remain convinced about the rest of this "novel". A travel writer reveals so much about himself in other works, why not this one?If this is not his "secret life", but rather his "other life", then this is the stuff that is no secret! Beautifully written, whatever the truth is, with a control of language that manages to evoke the dry dustiness of African savanna, or the dripping humidity of equatorial Asia, or the brittleness of London society matrons. If you like Theroux's travel writing, you will like this.
Rating: 
Summary: Theroux! Love him or hate him
Review: I happen to enjoy Paul Theroux a lot of the time, and this "fictional autobiography" delivers the goods. As usual, Theroux goes over familiar territory, Africa, Singapore, London and Massachussets, and makes one wonder which of his stories are real and which aren't. My favourite chapters in this book are his encounter with the royals at a posh function, (especially his Prince Phillip moment) and his pilgrimage to his hometown of Medford Massachussets, slumming with some locals who wouldn't know one of his books if it hit them on the head. This is as good introduction to this author as any book, although one would do well to start off with one of his travel books, such as The Old Patagonian Express (which is where I discovered Theroux). I found My Other Life to be much more enjoyable and substantial than his somewhat self-pitying My Secret History, written a few years previously. In fact I should re-read My Other Life soon, each page has some gems.
Rating:
Summary: Theroux! Love him or hate him
Review: I happen to enjoy Paul Theroux a lot of the time, and this "fictional autobiography" delivers the goods. As usual, Theroux goes over familiar territory, Africa, Singapore, London and Massachussets, and makes one wonder which of his stories are real and which aren't. My favourite chapters in this book are his encounter with the royals at a posh function, (especially his Prince Phillip moment) and his pilgrimage to his hometown of Medford Massachussets, slumming with some locals who wouldn't know one of his books if it hit them on the head. This is as good introduction to this author as any book, although one would do well to start off with one of his travel books, such as The Old Patagonian Express (which is where I discovered Theroux). I found My Other Life to be much more enjoyable and substantial than his somewhat self-pitying My Secret History, written a few years previously. In fact I should re-read My Other Life soon, each page has some gems.
Rating:
Summary: Theroux! Love him or hate him
Review: I happen to enjoy Paul Theroux a lot of the time, and this "fictional autobiography" delivers the goods. As usual, Theroux goes over familiar territory, Africa, Singapore, London and Massachussets, and makes one wonder which of his stories are real and which aren't. My favourite chapters in this book are his encounter with the royals at a posh function, (especially his Prince Phillip moment) and his pilgrimage to his hometown of Medford Massachussets, slumming with some locals who wouldn't know one of his books if it hit them on the head. This is as good introduction to this author as any book, although one would do well to start off with one of his travel books, such as The Old Patagonian Express (which is where I discovered Theroux). I found My Other Life to be much more enjoyable and substantial than his somewhat self-pitying My Secret History, written a few years previously. In fact I should re-read My Other Life soon, each page has some gems.
Rating:
Summary: A moveable memoir
Review: I have always loved Theroux's travel books,but am less well read on his fiction;but I think people who enjoy his travel writing will enjoy this book as much as I did,because it is written in a similar,informal vein.I have read the gloomiest parts over and over,and they have helped me overcome my own travails.And,like most other Theroux writing,there are hilarious snippets in even the darkest circumstances.I believe this is be the closest we may come to having a Theroux memoir,and I treasure it as such.I only give it a 9 because some sections are signifigantly better than others.
Rating:
Summary: The ego and its doppelganger
Review: I like the quality of the writing in this book and the nature of the hero's adventures a great deal more than the actual personality of the protagonist. This is a common conundrum with Mr.Theroux's work. He is a gifted storyteller but comes across in his travel literature and novels ,where the main character is often transparently based on himself, as an insufferable snob. The early passages in this book will ring familiar to readers of "My Secret History" and it should be by now abundantly clear that the author considers himself virtually irresistable to women of every color and nationality and that he often fancies himself the last civilized man sipping taseful vintages and nibbling on an orange while the coarse masses go about burping, copulating, screaming or talking nonsense. It is a strong ego that decides the cosmopolitan nature of a city or household by how many of his book titles it holds. Still, something interesting happenes about half way through this novel: our hero loses his wife, his bearings and some of his self-consciousness, although never his spirit of exploration and he becomes instantly likable. The chapter on his going home to Massachusetts and hanging out with various juvenile delinquents, and other characters who no doubt don't know the right fish fork to use at a bankett in Singapore ,is beautifully nostalgic, insightful and, dare I mention it, humble. Mr. Theroux is a gifted stylist and misery becomes him.
Rating:
Summary: Biography or autobiography?
Review: I ordered the book from our library as soon as it was published. I had read about briefly and assumed it was Paul Theroux's biography. I happened to glance at the forward as I was one-third into the book and he explains that it is his life if he directed it to his own liking. I believe it is almost totally autobiographical. I have read most of his "travel books" and Theroux reveals enough about himself, that everything in the book has a ring of strong truth. It is mostly humorous, somewhat sad, and definitely memorable. I find myself reading from midnight until about 2 am, not wanting to quit but hating to have it end. Fortunately, Paul is young enough we can follow the rest of the story in a sequel.
I am quite upset that my husband made dinner plans tonight and I must attend because I have a ticket to meet him tonight in Glenview. I am sending my daughter instead who also loves his writing.
Rating: 
Summary: My review of : My Other Life
Review: I thought the first half to be boring, I was bored with the English characters he knew. I was ready to put it down half way through then it picked up with his separation from his wife. There were a few very insightful lines that made it worth the price of the book. " a brillant writers ability to enter the readers soul" and "How did they do it?" also I knew what few readers knew, that you had to be that particular writer in order to write that particular book. I was very impressed with these two lines, something I always felt but I couldn't put into words.
Rating:
Summary: My review of : My Other Life
Review: I thought the first half to be boring, I was bored with the English characters he knew. I was ready to put it down half way through then it picked up with his separation from his wife. There were a few very insightful lines that made it worth the price of the book. " a brillant writers ability to enter the readers soul" and "How did they do it?" also I knew what few readers knew, that you had to be that particular writer in order to write that particular book. I was very impressed with these two lines, something I always felt but I couldn't put into words.
Rating:
Summary: Paul Theroux should have read this before he wrote it.
Review: Phrases such as "self indulgant," "self congratulatory," "whiney," etc. come to mind. Another reader commented that, though this is supposed to be fiction, it feels very much like it is probably, simply, just his autobiography. In some passages he attempts to give us insights into the life and hardships of a writer, a creative person. All that I came away with was that he doesn't like to work. Given the number of countries and peoples that he encounters in this book (or if this is pure fiction, in real life (we do know that he has been to most if not all of the places he writes about in this book)), I would expect there to be some, any, insights into the human condition other than HIS. If he had gained these insights, it might have made him a little more "worldly." The largest cultural leap he made was with some very (for the most part) uninteresting English characters (he does admit that he "hid" for the duration of his lengthy stay in that country). In some passages he explains what makes for good fiction, and how a writer (and he does make an awful lot of generalizations) should work; it is clear to me that he only applied these axioms to less than 10% of this book; and those passages were highly enjoyable...but soon thereafter, he jarringly abandons that style and rambles. I have read Mosquito Coast also, and have the same complaints. I was going to get the Great Railway Bazaar, as I have traveled to some of those countries as well, but comments from other astute readers have dissuaded me. To end this on a positive note: I read this book in 2 days traveling to Amsterdam. It was a quick read and helped put me in the traveling. If you want some fluff, this should do the trick.
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