A good recommendation from Ann, Theroux narrates his overland trip across Africa from Cairo to Cape Town. Full of high-powered observation, criticism, even mockery that constructs a convincing portrayal of the often desperate African life that most tourists intentionally avoid. His analysis of the effects of foreign aid to Africa is enough to give me a skeptical, questioning eye towards it. Encounters with with prostitutes, drivers, squatters, writers, farmers, and fighters make good stories that reshaped my ideas about my relationship to life elsewhere.