 Theroux recounts his experiences from the many diverse countries that border the shores of the sea, including the war-torn Yugoslavia (this was shortly before the break-up of the former republic), the troubled Levant and the recently liberated Albania.Other countries visited include Spain (and Palma de Mallorca, France (and Corsica), Italy (and Sardinia), Slovenia, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco.Many authors, politicians, topics, and works are mentioned within the work including Joshua Hassan, bullfighting, Francisco Franco, tourism, Salvadore Dali, Edward Lear, the Bible, the Odyssey, Silvio Berlusconi, pornography, the evil eye, the Croatian War of Independence, the Stari Most, bunkers, Ismail Kadare, Enver Hoxha, cruise ship culture with people from the West, cruise ship culture with people from Turkey, border crossings, Christopher W.S.