Since the publication of his first novel in 1972, Alexander Theroux has
won great acclaim for his dazzling style and forceful intellect. That
first novel, Three Wogs, was named Book of the Year by Encyclopedia
Britannica and nominated for the National Book Award, as was his second
novel, Darconville's Cat (1981), which Anthony Burgess called one of
the 99 best novels of the 20th century. Since then Theroux has published
numerous other books, won several awards, and has been the subject of
academic studies and theses. In addition to Burgess, he has been praised
by such writers as Saul Bellow, Guy Davenport, Robertson Davies, Fred
Exley, Jonathan Franzen, William H. Gass, Norman Mailer, D. Keith Mano,
Cormac McCarthy, James McCourt, Annie Proulx, John Updike, and Paul
West. Alexander Theroux: A Fan's Notes is the first book-length study
of Theroux's complete body of work, concluding with a chapter on his
contentious relationship with his best-selling brother Paul Theroux.
Critic Steven Moore, who has known Theroux for nearly 40 years and
helped with the publication of some of his books, illuminates Theroux's
work in a scholarly yet accessible style.