The Mosquito Coast (fiction)
Paul Theroux (1982)

THE A5 BOOK REVIEW

The Mosquito Coast is a story of Allie Fox, a brilliant but paranoid inventor determined to leave America for good to build a more pure civilization in the jungles of Honduras.  Frustrated with the stench of fast food, pollution, pornography and corporate greed in American culture, he takes his family and little else beyond his wits to find a new life in a new world.  Their first stop is the aptly named tiny settlement of Jeronimo.  At first, the work is successful, with his genius highlighted by his master creation - a huge machine that makes ice from fire.  But over time, the challenges of survival mount, taking the family deeper into the jungle and Allie deeper into obsession.  The narrative is told by Charlie, the 14 year old son who both admires and fears his father, increasingly understanding more about the hubris and genius that have taken them down this path.  It is an excellent story, and in our opinion, Theroux's best work of fiction.  The Mosquito Coast was adapted into a feature film, starring Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren and River Phoenix. 
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A FEW OTHER A5 RECOMMENDED TRAVEL BOOKS FROM PAUL THEROUX  (click here for more)
Paul Theroux is one of the world's leading travel writers, and one who deserves credit for shaping and defining the genre.  He has written numerous travel essays and works of fiction, several of which were turned into movies.  See more from Paul Theroux ​here.

GREAT QUOTES:

"We drove past Tiny Polski's mansion house to the main road, and then the five miles into Northampton, Father talking the whole way about savages and the awfulness of America - how ti got turned into a dope-taking, door-locking, ulcerated danger zone of rabid scavengers and criminal millionaires and moral sneaks.  And look at the schools.  And look at the politicians.  And there wasn't a Harvard graduate who could change a flat tire or do ten pushups.  And there were people in New York City who lived on pet food, who would kill you for a little loose change.  Was that normal?  If not, why did anyone put up with it?  "I don't know" he said, replying to himself.  "I'm just thinking out loud." "
- Paul Theroux, The Mosquito Coast

INTERESTING LINKS:

  • Read "Paul Theroux's Yankee Crusoe", the New York Times 1982 book review of The Mosquito Coast​.

THE MOVIE TRAILER