Blinding Light

By Theroux, Paul
Blinding Light
A washed-up writer sets out for Ecuador's jungle in search of a rare hallucinogen. Traveling amid a gaggle of thrill-seeking tourists, he finds his drug, which heightens both his powers of perception and his libido but leaves him with an unfortunate side effect: periodic blindness. It's a Faustian bargain he is willing to take, as long as it helps him finish his novel.

Details

Authors: Theroux, Paul
Copyright: 2006
Format: Paperback
GTIN13: 9780618711963
ISBN10: 0618711961
Page Count: 448
Dimensions: 5.82x1.05x8.32
Publisher: Mariner Books
Jacket Notes: From the jungles of Ecuador to the island of Martha's Vineyard, Paul Theroux's new novel titillates with eroticism, intelligence, and wit.
Slade Steadman is the ultimate one-book wonder. His lone opus, published twenty years ago, was a cult classic about his travels through dozens of countries without benefit of passport. With his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend in tow, he sets out for Ecuador's easternmost jungle in search of a rare hallucinogenic drug and what he hopes will be the cure for his writer's block.
But his world is altered profoundly when he becomes addicted to the drug and the insights it provides, only to have them desert him, along with his sight. Will he regain his vision? His visions? Or will he forgo the world of his imagining and his ambition? As Theroux leads us toward the answers, he makes fresh magic out of the venerable, intertwined themes of sight and insight. He also offers incisive, sometimes hilarious takes on the manifold ironies of travel and the trappings of the writer's life -- from the fear of the blank page to the unexpected challenges of the book tour.

Strand Notes

In this slyly satirical novel of manners and mind expansion, Slade Steadman, a writer who has lost his chops, sets out for the Ecuadorian jungle with his ex-girlfriend in search of inspiration and a rare hallucinogen. The drug, once found, heightens both his powers of perception and his libido, but it also leaves him with an unfortunate side effect...

Description

From the jungles of Ecuador to the island of Martha's Vineyard, Paul Theroux's new novel titillates with eroticism, intelligence, and wit.
Slade Steadman is the ultimate one-book wonder. His lone opus, published twenty years ago, was a cult classic about his travels through dozens of countries without benefit of passport. With his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend in tow, he sets out for Ecuador's easternmost jungle in search of a rare hallucinogenic drug and what he hopes will be the cure for his writer's block.
But his world is altered profoundly when he becomes addicted to the drug and the insights it provides, only to have them desert him, along with his sight. Will he regain his vision? His visions? Or will he forgo the world of his imagining and his ambition? As Theroux leads us toward the answers, he makes fresh magic out of the venerable, intertwined themes of sight and insight. He also offers incisive, sometimes hilarious takes on the manifold ironies of travel and the trappings of the writer's life -- from the fear of the blank page to the unexpected challenges of the book tour.
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