Rating: 
Summary: Excellent read
Review: Theroux's latest travel piece shows a maturity that I found particularly appealing, having read most of his travel and fiction works over the years.
In this one he is at the top of his game and the reader (even those new to his material) will not be disappointed.
Of the problems facing Africa, they are numerous. And his condemnation of international aid workers, NGOs, etc., is absolutely correct. They have done little except line their own pockets and fill their resumes. I work for an international aid agency and the money spent on poverty eradication versus results would leave most normal people shocked. Direct transfers to individuals and get rid of the white SUVs!
Rating:
Summary: Armchair Traveler
Review: This is a marvelously engrossing book, perfect for those, like me, who want to see the world without actually enduring the necessary discomforts. Theroux has lived in Africa, speaks some of its languages, and knows his way around. He writes of what an ordinary tourist would never see. I'm prompted to write this review by one of the reviews already posted here, which accuses Theroux of negativity and a dislike of people. I had the opposite impression. He does indeed see much to be disturbed by in Africa--any compassionate person would be disturbed by it. Civil society has broken down in many of the countries he visits. Poverty, disease, crime, and corruption beset the cities, and Theroux shows clearly how aid workers who come to help, and the missionaries who want to foist their beliefs on the Africans, often make things worse. He is opinionated and sometimes testy, which makes his account interesting, never a dry recital of facts. He talks with people wherever he goes, and most important of all, he listens to them. As a result, he learns what few outsiders ever do, and gives us a view of Africa--a place he loves--that is a fascinating, deeply unsettling revelation.
Rating:
Summary: A Fresh Look From A Professional Skeptic
Review: This may be the best of all of the Theroux travel books. Theroux, skeptical of everything, revisits the Africa he left 30 years before. Theroux concludes that things are worse in much of Africa and he strongly implies that Western aid; Western Charity and Western Liberal Do-Gooders have accomplished little or nothing in Africa. They have trained the local people to expect handouts instead of taking care of themselves. Here he sounds like a conservative Republican. However, Theroux is especially skeptical of the religious workers in Africa who, in his view, are wasting their time attempting to convert Africans to Christianity to save souls. This book caused me to rethink the African Charity issue.
As always, Theroux is fresh and unpredictable. He pokes fun at himself and his life, but he also concludes that his own journey through life has been very rewarding. You get the sense that no one handed Theroux any breaks in his career. He feels he had to earn every break he got.
He makes a few references to V.S. Naipaul in the book. He also interviews Nadine Gordimer, the South African novelist, and paints a portrait of an interesting and courageous woman.
Rating: 
Summary: A new look on Africa
Review: While reading this book by Paul Theroux I had to pause a number of times. I had to let all the information he gave me settle into my brain and translate it into what I could understand for myself. They way I interpreted the story was pretty much not to judge a book by its cover. In onther words, when it comes to Africa many people judge this great continent just on what they hear on the News. About the AIDS epidemic and all that. But that's only a fraction of what Africa is all about. You really need to get to know the people in Africa and actually see it for yourself before you can make a judgment. That's exactly what Theroux did in this book. He went to Africa and really got to know the people and the actual continent. My only complaint about the book was that it was a little wordy, but in general it was an amazing book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is willing to throw all their preconceptions of Africa out the window and one who is open-minded and willing to learn a life-lesson and learn more about Africa as well.
Rating:
Summary: The Best in travel and Africa
Review: Who does not dream of Africa? Who does not at the same time fear the intolerance and racial problems, the famine and disease, while yearning for the bush? This is the question so eloquently explored by a renowned travel writer in this tour de force that takes one from the dusty bazaars of Cairo to the Volk of South Africa. The stories follows the famed Cape to Cairo route, starting in the Maghreb and heading South. Passing the formidable fanaticism of the Sudan, the genocide in Darfur, to the ancient Christians of Ethiopia to such melting posts as Kenya and then south to the harshness of Zimbabwe and whence to South Africa. From visiting the normal tourist destinations to seeing the people as they are this book gives a wonderful historical political look at the continent of Africa. One question being asked is how has Africa changed since the idealism of the 1960s? What is the role of the countless aid organizations? What is the role of religion and race in society? Without going into polemics but simply through gentle observation and slight off the hand remarks this book helps guide the reader through the vastness of Africa, the problems and the delights.
The text refers to the "Era of Charity" trying to stop the " ineradicable miseries: Famine, displacement, poverty, illiteracy, AIDs..." the book explains how the massive dumping of foreign capital into Africa has simply turned problems into "permanent conditions" and nothing is more honest an observation then from a former Peace Corps volunteer. The text begs the question again and again `how is it possible that these African countries are poorer and less developed then in 1960, ney 1860? How is it possible that only infrastructure in places like Khartoum is the remnants of the British? And this is the essence of the title "Dark". This is not a safari that shows one beautiful pictures, rather the reality is coaxed out of the continent, laid bare, and among the horrors, one discovers the simple humanity of Africa the enticements that led Joseph Conrad and the poet Rimbaud to seek the wafting smells of Injera. What can be more enticing then wonderful travel writing on the words most diverse and sometimes most terrible place. The rare exception this book finally tells the truth regarding the negative affects of fake western philanthropists, and those who color intolerance to make it seem like `culture'. A must read for anyone contemplating Africa, for anyone interested in African history and the present day African life.
Seth J. Frantzman
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