by Paul Theroux
First published 2005
Slade Steadman wrote one book twenty years ago. Trespassing became a cult hit about traveling the world without a passport. Now he faces writer's block and a crumbling relationship with girlfriend Ava. They join a group of tourists heading to Ecuador's jungle. Steadman wants to find a rare hallucinogenic drug that might unlock his creativity. He gets what he came for, but the drug brings an unexpected cost. Episodes of blindness strike him without warning. The altered state transforms everything. Ava decides to stay with him. The drug becomes his muse for writing an erotic novel based on his own life. Fame returns to him. But addiction follows close behind. Steadman craves both the drug and the visions it brings. Then both his chemical inspiration and his eyesight begin to fail him. He must choose between the world he imagines and the reality he inhabits.
Genres: literary-fiction, addiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: addiction, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Ecuador, Jungle
Period: 20 Years Ago
438 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Content warnings: addiction, drug-use