The initial raft of reviews have appeared, and seem mostly positive, if likely to take Chatwin to task for his liberal attitude to the truth. Surprisingly, however, the fairest assessment comes from Paul Theroux, who has, on occasion, been stingingly critical of Chatwin’s work and personality. At the end of a long review for the Telegraph, however, Theroux re-appraises his earlier assessment:

‘While he was alive, I teased him and questioned his unreliable accounts of travel. His death was a shock and when he was more or less beatified by the critics, I rolled my eyes. But with each passing year I am more convinced that he was the real thing, an original in all his work, and Rimbaudesque in acting on his belief that life is elsewhere.’

You can read the whole piece here.