The Stranger at the Palazzo d'Oro

At least partially written while Theroux was in Africa, travelling for his [b:Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town 28241 Dark Star Safari Overland from Cairo to Cape Town Paul Theroux https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1347478790s/28241.jpg 1832876], it only seems reasonable to read it concurrently.—-This book is made up of four short stories, all loosely themed around eroticism / lust and the complex (or simple maybe?) sexual relationships of people. Three feature characters in their 60s, the other a boy ‘coming of age'.The title story, first in the line up deals with the loss of youth. It is more correctly a novella, and is considerably longer than the other stories. Set in Sicily, in the 1960's it tells the tale of a young man and his love affair with an older woman. Narrated by an elderly man, telling the story of his youth - as a young American art student travelling the world. He meets a sophisticated older woman at a hotel pool - she is a countess, travelling with her doctor companion.The second story is titled Boyhood Secrets and is four short stories from slightly different periods in the life of a central character Andy. They are all themed around coming of age, sexual discovery and growing up. Think Stand By Me for the era and the setting - we, that's what it felt like to me.Next up is An African Story, probably the weakest of the stories for me. This story talked about an African novelist (also a white Farmer) - outlining the plots of a number of his books, then finally telling the story of the author, where he upsets his marriage to manage an affair with a much younger black school teacher. The results aren't really as he expects.The final story is of a wealthy retired judge in Hawaii who falls in lust with his cleaning ladies - a mother and daughter duo, pursuing them to Vegas on their twice yearly gambling holiday.The stories are all provocative, erotically charged in places, and have some good character depth. Enjoyable as light reading. Somewhere between three and four stars, I think three, leaving space for some of his many other books I own but have not read to improve on this!