The Happy Isles of Oceania

"Engaging and at times brilliant...he goes places where the rest of us might fear to paddle, often beaching his kayak on a small South Pacific island without the foggiest idea whether those awaiting him will be friendly, indifferent, or anxious to give him a good thwack...well worth reading." USA Today"A superb blend of sharp-eyed observation and pungently expressed opinion. It's hardly paradise, this lovely part of the world, but Theroux makes it endlessly fascinating." Newsday"Feisty, eloquent, and vast in scope...a multilayered odyssey." The San Francisco Chronicle"Perceptive, terribly readable, and wickedly funny...[An] exhilarating book." --Book Review The Los Angeles Times

Paul Theroux has written many works of fiction and travel writing, including the modern classics The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, My Secret History and The Mosquito Coast. He won the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing 2020. Paul Theroux divides his time between Cape Cod and the Hawaiian islands.

Part 1 Meganesia: New Zealand - the land of the long white cloud; New Zealand - sloshing through the South Island; waffling in white Australia; walkabout in Woop Woop; north of the never-never. Part 2 Melanesia: buoyant in the peaceful Trobiands; aground in the troubled Trobriands; the Solomon - down and dirty in Guadalcanal; the Solomons - in the Egg Fields of Savo Island; Vanuatu - cannibals and missionaries; the oddest island in Vanuatu; Fiji - the dividied island of Viti Levu; Fiji - Vanua Levu and the islets of Bligh Water. Part 3 Polynesia: Tonga - the royal island of Tongatapu; Tonga - alone on the desert islands of Vava'u; in the backwaters of Western Samoa; American Samoa - the littered lagoon; Tahiti - the windward shore of the island of love; a voyage to the Marquesas; the Cook Islands - in the lagoon of Aitutaki; Easter Island - beyond the surf zone of Rapa Nui; Easter Island - the old canoe ramp at Tongariki. Part 4 Paradise: Oahu - open espionage in Honalulu; Kauai - following the dolphins on the Na Pali coast; Niihau and Lanai - some men are islands; the big island - paddling in the state of grace.