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Travel writer Paul Theroux examines the uneasy allure of the Deep South

FLUKER, LA - MAY 5: Christy Sibley (R) and daughter Rosheka stand in their trailer May 5, 2009 in Fluker, Louisiana. The highly impoverished rural town has very few jobs and no mayor. The recession has hit many Americans hard, but the rural Lower Mississippi Delta region has had some of the nation's worst poverty for decades. The mechanization of agriculture and movement of textile plants out of the country has left the region's economy in tatters, leaving generational poverty in its wake. Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal has rejected $98.4 million of the federal government stimulus funds for the unemployment reform package. The package allows states to expand eligibility, potentially assisting thousands of unemployed Americans to weather the recession. Louisiana's poverty rate is 19.2%, the second highest rate in the nation behind Mississippi.  (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Christy Sibley
Christy Sibley (R) and daughter Rosheka stand in their trailer May 5, 2009 in Fluker, Louisiana.
(
Mario Tama/Getty Images
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Travel writer Paul Theroux examines the uneasy allure of the Deep South

In Deep South, Travel Writer Paul Theroux explores the paradox of America’s Deep South, looking at its rich history and culture, but also why it has some of the nation’s worst schools and unemployment rates.

Theroux interviews mayors, reverends, social workers, farming families, and the very poor to better understand the people who have spent their entire lives in the south, and despite its hardships have never left.

His travels take him through Arkansas and down into parts of Mississippi, spanning four seasons to share the stories and struggles of the people who make up America’s Deep South.

Paul Theroux will be talking about his book, “Deep South,” at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens later TODAY between 2:00-4:00pm.

Guest:

Paul Theroux,  travel writer and novelist, whose numerous books include “The Great Railway Bazaar” (Mariner Books; Reprint edition, 2006), and his newest, “Deep South: Four Seasons on Back Roads” (Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015)