Perhaps it's meant to keep attention on the places where Theroux did travel, but given that these places do at least find some mention it might have been useful to point them out to curious readers here.) Foreshadowing book spoiler: He quotes and draws comparisons from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. A lot. Neither of these statements is correct. Although Mengistu killed a large number of government ministers, some of whom were related to Haile Selassie, and imprisoned his daughter, most of the royal family survived. (They were much in evidence at the emperor's long-delayed funeral in November 2000, soon after Theroux's visit.) And the present Ethiopian government, which has conducted a lengthy trial - in absentia - of the former dictator, on charges that include responsibility for the death of the emperor, has never claimed that he killed him with his own hands. But it must be said, in reading this late work (pub. in 2002) that Theroux is someone who seems to have grown, and to have grown better and deeper, and more urgent…, which is not often the case with men (women, perhaps, are different), who are more frequently diminished by success and by aging. For all his flaws, in other words, Theroux has increasing been willing to look the beast… the beast of his personal weaknesses, of his mortality, and of his love… nay, his lust for life… a love ultimately doomed by the facts of nature… directly in the eye. And the result is a certain poignancy and beauty that is fully in evidence in this wonderful book. En route to Kampala the countryside looks better and yet political violence persists. The city and Makerere University were his home in 1965. In the years since Idi Amin things fell apart. Theroux recalls Naipaul's fear of Africa. This trip seems to support that aversion. He meets an old friend, now a Prime Minister. Dodging an ebola outbreak he books ferry passage to Tanzania on a vintage colonial steamship.

Always a terrific teller of tales and conjurer of exotic locales, he writes lean prose that lopes along at a compelling pace' Sunday Times Throughout the remainder of his account of his trip we are reminded of the uselessness of aid workers and, in particular, the offensive luxury of the vehicles they drive around in. In Malawi we hear of "a white person driving one-handed in his white Save the Children vehicle, talking on a cellphone with music playing loudly - the happiest person in the country". In Tanzania, still in those culpably white cars, they "travel in pairs, in the manner of cultists and Mormon evangelists". In 2001 Paul Theroux returned to Africa and traveled from Cairo to Capetown at age sixty. Thirty four years earlier he had taught in Uganda, where he worked with V S Naipaul, later to become Nobel Laureate. Since then Theroux gained fame and fortune as a novelist and travel writer. This was his middle travel period. He had begun in 1973 with 'The Great Railway Bazaar' and was still at it in 2018. This is a difficult journey and Theroux, traveling alone, might not have emerged from it alive. His advantages were years of travel and previous acquaintance with the continent. DARK STAR SAFARI is well-named. It is not light or easy reading but it is educating, informative and profoundly thought-provoking. Highly recommended.Theroux's sometimes caustic portrait of Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul in his memoir Sir Vidia's Shadow (1998) is at considerable odds with his earlier, gushing portrait of the same author in V.S. Naipaul, an Introduction to His Work (1972). His time in Malawi is also such a disappointment to him. He was a teacher there in the 60’s and things have not got better at all. The descriptions of the school and the town he was in and the house he lived in bring so much unhappiness.

Writing of more recent events in the history of the region, Theroux describes the outcome of war between Eritrea and Ethiopia as "ending triumphantly for Eritrea". This exceeds even Eritrean government rhetoric; the war, which left tens of thousands dead and no discernible gain for either side, was a disaster for both countries. Composed with passion, eloquence and insight, Dark Star Safari is travel writing at its most eye-opening, thought-provoking and heartfelt." - Merle Rubin, The Los Angeles Times There's little of southern Sudan (where most of the fighting is going on) or, for example, even much mention of Eritrea (which he also by-passed) beyond some war-talk, and while it is understandable that Theroux focusses on what he does see it would have been interesting to hear more, for example, about why he avoids certain areas. I … was heading south, in my usual traveling mood: hoping for the picturesque, expecting misery, braced for the appalling. Happiness was unthinkable, for although happiness is desirable, it is a banal subject for travel. Therefore, Africa seemed perfect for a long journey.

Theroux waxes poetic about the trash and filth he finds on the way. Child beggars and youth gangs follow in his wake. Officials of all kinds demand bribes. The college he taught in is ruined, the grants stolen. Everywhere are agents of virtue, known as foreign aid workers, in new white Land Rovers. The system is so entrenched it is part of the permanent economy. He rides a dugout canoe down the Zambezi.

Recorded in December 2017 and mixed in June 2018 by Ingo Krauss at Candybomber Studio Berlin. Additional recordings at Punkt Studio Kristiansand, The Green Room and home-studios in Oslo and Berlin during Spring/Summer 2018. Mastering and Vinyl cut by Mike Grinser at Manmade Mastering Berlin, December 2018. Produced by Dark Star Safari. Still its emptiness and its isolation: the wild spaces, the great isolation in places like the Congo. Many of these places are still so dangerous that no-one visits. Many parts of Africa have become forgotten, or overlooked. They await a new conqueror, unfortunately. Really there is no deadlier combination than a bookworm and megalomaniac. It was for example the crazed condition of many novelists and travelers." - Theroux on Mugabe Theroux's tale acquires more dark momentum the closer he gets to the equator. Starting out amid pyramids and Sudanese proving irresistible to European types ("We find Nubian banana"), he seeks people he knew from his Peace Corps days and ordinary strangers who have contempt for him because of the color of his skin or who want nothing more than to go to America; people trying to take advantage of him or treating him with real kindness. We do not love Theroux, but we cannot help but admire his courage in often taking the most difficult route possible and for his sharp way with words. His pace is leisurely; he doesn't have a schedule, and his family doesn't know where he is. He likes it.Funny. I had a Paul Theroux on my shelf for years, untouched, and finally decided to take it with me to the Chicago Book Festival last summer where I released it. Theroux was speaking so I thought it would be cool to release one of his books just outside the tent where he was speaking. I left the book next to one of the tent stakes and went inside to hear him talk. He was a fabulous storyteller and I immediately regretted that I had given away his book. I went out to try to retrieve the book, but it had already found its way into the hands of a couple who loved the whole BookCrossing idea. Never did journal the book, but I definitely knew the book had a good home. And I've been itching to read Theroux ever since I heard him speak. I vow not to let this book go before I've given it a thorough reading.

Theroux is best at shorthand dissections of trends that have already become obvious. In no other book will one find such entertaining and penetrating comments about the ironies, as well as the historic failure, of foreign aid. Why is Theroux is critical of internatinal development efforts, including many of the foreign aid workers who help the impoverished? Do you agree with his assessment?

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Malawi is so poor that a person's annual income equals the cost of a meal at an American restaurant.He spends way too much time there,refreshing the memories of his youth.Then,he goes to Mozambique,with its years of civil war and abundance of land mines.