Paul Theroux on his distaste for whimsical expatriate memoirs

“The books I don’t have a lot of time for are the frivolous ones: lovable people in Tuscany, or a little treasure of a man in Spain, or wonderful meals. The books about having a great time. I’m not too interested in them. But there are plenty of them because people have the fantasy of ditching their job and going somewhere, saying, why don’t we go live in Italy, or Venezuela, or going to a Greek island, that used to be a big fantasy. These books with lots of sunshine and beaches, they have no interest for me.”
–Paul Theroux, World Hum interview, August 18, 2008