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Starting with a rush-hour subway ride to South Station in Boston to catch the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, Theroux winds up on the poky, wandering Old Patagonian Express steam engine, which comes to a halt in a desolate land of cracked hills and thorn bushes. But, with Theroux, the view along the way is what matters: the monologuing Mr. Thornberry in Costa Rica, the bogus priest of Cali, and the celebrated writer, Jorge Luis Borges, who delights in having Theroux read Robert Louis Stevenson to him.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780395521052","publication_date":"19891107","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"the-old-patagonian-express","subtitle":"By Train Through the Americas","title":"The Old Patagonian Express"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"TRA004010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Railroad History","score":0.7757,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRA004020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Railroad Photo Books","score":0.7618,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRV026090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Literary Travel","score":0.7546,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"TRA004010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Railroad History","score":0.7757,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRA004020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Railroad Photo Books","score":0.7618,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"TRV026090","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Literary Travel","score":0.7546,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS029000","confidence_band":"high","label":"North American History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS033000","confidence_band":"high","label":"South American History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036120","confidence_band":"high","label":"Southern U.S. History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS037000","confidence_band":"high","label":"World History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"TRA004000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Railroads","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"TRA004010","confidence_band":"high","label":"Railroad History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"TRA004020","confidence_band":"high","label":"Railroad Photo Books","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"TRV008000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Central America Travel","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Railroad History","score":0.7757,"slug":"railroad-history"},{"label":"Railroad Photo Books","score":0.7618,"slug":"railroad-photo-books"},{"label":"Literary Travel","score":0.7546,"slug":"literary-travel"}],"reader_fit":["For readers interested in train journeys through the Americas","For readers drawn to travel writing about encounters with locals"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Paul Theroux"],"book_id":"9780358362791","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780358362791.jpg?v=4e20e48b8ed9ba29","score":0.7135,"title":"On the Plain of Snakes","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780358362791"},{"authors":["Paul Theroux","Steve McCurry"],"book_id":"9780544323520","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780544323520.jpg?v=98e72c4d53a2745e","score":0.7109,"title":"Deep South","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780544323520"},{"authors":["Paul Theroux"],"book_id":"9780618658954","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780618658954.jpg?v=f497f6f80aa950c2","score":0.7036,"title":"The Kingdom by the Sea","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780618658954"},{"authors":["Jordan Salama"],"book_id":"9781646222667","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781646222667.jpg?v=4b28385eb519fe4b","score":0.6776,"title":"Stranger in the Desert","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781646222667"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:history"],"label":"History","score":0.4536,"slug":"history"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:south america travel guide"],"label":"Travel","score":0.0878,"slug":"travel"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Train travel, Encounters with locals, Literary encounters.","Themes: History, Travel.","Reading lane: Railroad History and Railroad Photo Books."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.88,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["For readers interested in train journeys through the Americas","For readers drawn to travel writing about encounters with locals"],"themes":["Train travel","Encounters with locals","Literary encounters"],"tropes":[]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":1046,"goodreads_ratings_count":11756,"goodreads_reviews_count":565,"quality_score":0.9678}}