My Secret History: A Novel

''Written with a rare intensity of both intelligence and feeling. . . a superbly realistic evocation of the journeys (both dark and comical) of the human heart'' Salman Rushdie, Observer

In My Secret History, award-winning writer Paul Theroux offers the reader an exciting insight into the double-life of Andre Parent in six compelling snapshots.

''Nothing on the shelf has quite prepared the reader of My Secret History. . . Parent saunters into the book aged fifteen, shouldering a .22 Mossberg rifle as earlier, more innocent American heroes used to tote a fishing pole. In his pocket is a paperback translation of Dante''s Inferno. . . he is a creature of naked and unquenchable ego, greedy for sex, money, experience, another life'' Jonathan Raban, Observer

''Theroux''s best creation, a character who is honest enough to know that he wants it both ways: to be the lover and also the solitary observer who betrays his loves by turning them into stories'' Time

''Theroux''s best fiction to date...combines the surfaces of memoir and travelogue with cunning fiction'' Sunday Times

''Sharp, exact, very evocative. . . both disturbing and entertaining'' Anthony Burgess, Independent