The Lost Continent

Rating:
Summary: Not even one star
Review: I was out in Philadelphia - a very fun and interesting city (if you ignore this book)- when I read this book. What an incredible disappointment. "Razor sharp wit" is too kind of a description of Bryson's wit. Bryson is down right mean in this book. This is a man who made a conscious decision not to live in the United States who returns to supposedly find his "roots" in Iowa. Hey, keep your eyes open. Bryson was more intent on beating it as fast as he could across America to get a book to print for his editors. Although I do agree, the Midwest can be "heavy" even from the perspective of this home-grown Illini, the Midwest also has the most genuinely nice people, pork as a main food group, the best county fairs, little league and every rib fest known to mankind. He seems to have overlooked the POSITIVE aspects of Americans by only reaching for the surface. A Walk in the Woods is a much more enjoyable and funny read than this book. Obviously, putting one foot in front of the other makes one look closer at one's surroundings. Don't waste your time with this one.

Rating:
Summary: After Bryson's "Walk in the Woods" this really disappoints.
Review: Like lots of folks, my first experience of Bryson was reading his genuinely hilarious account of his Appalachian Trail adventures. So, when I found "The Lost Continent" on sale at a flea market for a dollar, I snapped it up. Now I'm relieved that that is all it cost me. I started the book with high hopes not only because I'd enjoyed "A Walk in the Woods" but because I, too, would love to find the perfect small town. I thought that Bryson might help in that quest. In fact, the reason for two stars, rather than one or none, is that he does help in that endeavor. Right from start this book jolted me. [...]. There is some point at which humor crosses the line and becomes just plain nasty. Bryson crosses it frequently; his early chapters are almost unremittingly meanspirited. As just one example, he continually ridicules his father, for whom he claims to have affection, yet seems unaware that he describes exactly the same qualities in himself - for which he finds no fault, but blames others. Specifically, he laughs at his father's difficulty in finding an access road to a tourist attraction to which thousands of others have gained access, yet, in Oxford, Mississippi, Bryson is unable to find William Faulkner's house, a "feat" thousands of tourists have clearly accomplished. Instead Bryson pokes fun at the polite woman who tries to give him directions. There is no question that Bill Bryson has a very readable style and there is also no question that many of his insights are spot-on funny and perceptive. But were it not for my wish to find "perfect" small towns to visit, I would have quit the book very early. I genuinely hated - no other word for it - the harshness of his not-at-all funny atttacks on countless people and places.

Rating:
Summary: A hilarious stab at the American heartland?
Review: Perhaps so, but in a good natured "poke-in-the-ribs" sort of way.

Born and raised in Iowa ("I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."), Bryson left the plains to live in England. He returns to write about the land of his childhood. What results is an engagingly humorous look of the world he left behind through his (now) foreign perspective.

In the great American tradition of the road trip, Bryson - sans screaming kids - decides to venture forth to document the America he knew and offer insight on what's changed.

The book is divided into two trips. One going east, through Ohio, the deep south ("Welcome to Mississippi, we shoot to kill"), through New England back to Des Moines. The other going west to Nebraska, New Mexico, California etc. Through his trips, Bryson details his elusive search for Amalgam, the imaginary utopian American town comprising of hte desirable characteristics of the various towns visited.

While offering some astute observations, he unashamedly resorts to harp on the stereotypical which while occasionally funny, gets tiresome after awhile. Admittedly, while Bryson is one of many who have attempted this sort of transcontinental travel writing (think "Travels with Charley" by Steinbeck), his brand of humor is immediately recognizable to an American audience.

American readers who might be a tad offended by his travelogue might want to read his take on England as well.

One of the better books in the humorous travel writing genre, if there's one.

Rating:
Summary: Lost Continent, Great book
Review: The Lost Continent, by Bill Bryson is a hilarious book. It talks about his trip across the country and back.
Bryson is from Iowa, and some of the book is spent making fun of his own people.
Bill starts his trip in Des Moines, where he has lived for his whole life, retracking the trips that his father had taken the family on. His father's death is what initiated his whole trip.
Bryson is a great writer especially if you like funny stories. I can't remember laughing out loud at a book before I read this. He is also very descriptive when he writes. I could visualize every aspect of the book. I have no trouble relating to this book either; it really seems like he is a "normal", (if you will), type of guy.
The setting may be the most important part of the book because Bryson is contsantly describing where he is and what it is like. I feel like I am "there" when he describes the towns, roads, and people.
It is easy to make a plot like this quite boaring, but with the comedy and descriptiveness, Bill Bryson does a wonderful job of keeping your attention.

Enjoy Bill's trip through America. This is really a must read.

Rating:
Summary: Find the Lost Continent
Review: This is a very funny book. Bryson's two road trips, covering 38 of the 48 continental United States, wind through many famous sites and cities as well as many small towns and endless boring miles in the Midwest. He takes these routes in search of the idyllic small towns he remembers from his youth and imagines, but instead finds that the strip malls, fast food joints and cheap hotels that dominate larger towns have taken hold everywhere. His descriptions of the people and places he visits are hilarious and I think it is too bad some reviewers take his comments personally. He was certainly exaggerating and generalizing his statments for humor, but that makes it entertaining. Certainly he comes off a bit whiny and sometimes mean, but that is Bryson's style and the way he writes all of his books. This is the most enjoyable Bryson book I've read to this point and I think anyone who has ever taken a car trip will appreciate it. It is excellent summer vacation reading.