My Secret History - Hardcover

Theroux, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399134247 ISBN 13: 9780399134241

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1989

Synopsis

"Theroux's best novel in years."

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

MY SECRET HISTORY is Paul Theroux's tour de force. It is the story of Andre Parent, a writer, a world traveler, a lover of every kind of woman he chances to meet in a life as varied as a man can lead. From his days as an altar boy, to his job as a teenaged lifeguard, and then as a youth caught between the attentions of a beautiful young student and an amorous older woman. And as the boy becomes a man he turns his attention to writing, which brings him fame, and a wife, who may finally bring him to know himself. But not before he sets up his most dangerous secret life, one that any man might envy, but that could cost Andre Parent the delicate balance that makes him who he is....

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

written, erotically charged, My Secret History is Paul Theroux's tour de force. It is the story of Andre Parent, a writer, a world traveller, a lover of every kind of woman he chances to meet in a life as varied as a man can lead.

It begins with his days as a Massachusetts altar boy, when his first furtive sexual encounter introduces him to the thrills of leading a double life. As a teenaged lifeguard, Andre finds himself caught between the attentions of a beautiful young student and an amorous older woman. Soon he is in Africa, where the local women are numerous, easy, and free. And as the boy becomes a man he turns his attention to writing, which brings him fame, and a wife, who may finally cause him to know himself.

But not before he sets up his most dangerous secret life, one that any man might envy, but that could cost Andre Parent the delicate balance that makes him who he is.

From the Back Cover:

"Merges the two genres he's famous for... My secret history is about the permanence of marriage in the face of mistrust and infidelity; it's about the wisdom of women and the foolishness of men; and it's about mature love as the necessary and sometimes successful antidote to youthful selfishness."

-- the New York Times Book Review

"Consistently entertaining... Theroux's hero is a man of ironic intelligence and amusing self-awareness."

-- Time

About this edition

• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0399134247
• ISBN 13: 9780399134241
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 511