Millroy the Magician [Import] [Hardcover]

Paul Theroux (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd; First Edition edition (1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0241131855
• ISBN-13: 978-0241131855
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Paul Theroux's highly acclaimed novels include Blinding Light, Hotel Honolulu, My Other Life, Kowloon Tong, and The Mosquito Coast. His renowned travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Dark Star Safari, Riding the Iron Rooster, The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, and The Happy Isles of Oceania. He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A charming tale of nutrition, Christ, pedophilia and love., December 6, 1999

By 

Liam Black - See all my reviews

This review is from: Millroy the Magician (Paperback)

Paul Theroux is a writer whose sentences are, to steal from protagonist Millroy, tangibilised. It would seem to be impossible to read him without a stream of images flowing through your mind: bloody eyes, detachable tongues, finger cutlets, Ezekiel bread and closely shaven heads.

This novel is a showcase of a writing that invokes as much as it provokes, and it does both exceptionally well. In addition to the brilliant use of image, olfactory and texture to construct a disjointed yet vividly real world, this book provides a thoughtful read that remains playful.

"How can people who eat such good food be so evil?"

That, I think, sums up centuries of debate over religion, the will of God and humanity itself. It's also a delightful sentence completely in tune with everything that had preceded it.

This is not a rollercoaster ride, but it is certainly shipborne voyage. At times it is rocky and at times it is soothing, and ultimately you can't help but be thrilled with where it ends up.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern miracle, December 20, 2002

By 

Avid Reader (Franklin, Tn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Millroy the Magician (Paperback)

Milroy is a prophet for our times - hilarious, earnest, quirky and sincere. As he preaches the Gospel of Bibical eating, he invents a new way of life - one that is destined to change the world. Of course, it soon becomes apparent that this tale follows the Christ story (in explicit detail) - from the ragtag group of followers, to the shunning masses (who STILL don't get the real message), to those who only care about the miracles to the raising of the dead and, at last, sacrifice and resurrection and a new life in his teachings.

On one level, there is the story of the mystery man - the one everyone knows - who becomes the great Teacher with the all of the attending attention. He is the moral teacher, the one who breaks the rules and must decide how far to go. Like Christ, he is aware of his own impending doom and sees that his message will only be greater after his death. This is the book that most authors wish they could write but never do.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I think Millroy is more than a Magician..., March 17, 2006

By 

V. Vaquero "VIVAQUERO" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Millroy the Magician (Hardcover)

I actually loved this book to the very core...the apple core.
I read it and grew hungry for better things. I read it when it was first published and still think back on it. I felt like Millroy may be on to something and still do.

I changed my diet after reading this...

and haven't eaten a fastfood hamburger since.