Rating: 
Summary: Bill Bryson's insecurities runneth over
Review: Bill Bryson can write, that's for sure. And he's sarcastic -- that's what drew me to this book. But he's also terribly insecure. While I wouldn't dare get overly defensive about America, I do take umbrage with Bryson's need to go after the easy targets with impunity. His caricature of the South was shallow and his stereotyping of the Midwest horribly unoriginal, but the elitist attitude Bryson had towards small town American folks was irritating. His experiences with The Dumb are universal -- I've had the same reaction to dumb people all over the world. Being dumb is hardly unique to the US. And yes, we might be fat and ugly in the States, but I would hardly turn to Britain to improve my dietary and fashion sense. Bottom-line, Bryson has some funny episodes, but he didn't try hard enough to be witty. If you want to read someone who can amuse you in his travels of America without insulting everybody around him, try Calvin Trillin -- the wit is original, the writing better, and the insecurities less palpable.
Rating: 
Summary: Solidly funny work by a man you're happy you don't know.
Review: The Lost Continent is Bill Bryson's account of his random wanderings through America. It's important to take note of exactly who Bryson is; he's an Anglophile who lived for 20 years in England, and he's also a native of Iowa. This book is exactly what you'd expect from a man like that.Bryson searches for small town perfection and, for the most part, fails to find it. (This is not surprising; he has made a career out of disappointment. He obtained similar results on a tour of England, and he loves *that* county.) Instead, he finds modern America: strip malls, shopping centers, and truck stops interspersed with occasional historic landmarks and scenes of great beauty. The author states in the beginning of the book that his journey was inspired by the death of his father. Bryson describes his father as a tight-fisted, irrascible man constantly in search of (free) historic monuments. Although Bryson spends a good chunk of time making fun of his father, his narrative is stunning support for theories of genetics. Bryson whines about the cost of motels ($30 - $40), rants about the cost of admission to tourist attractions ($2.50 - $15.00, for the most part), and shows a remarkable ability to seek out the dullest portions of any town. This is a humorous look at the parts of America that most Americans are smart enough to avoid. The narrative just brings you a little too close to an author who seems to have made it his life's work to be just slightly more irritable and irrational than the next guy.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I totally love this book. I thought it was very funny and very well written. If you'd like to read a book that makes you laugh every single page, read it! To the American people who don't like it because they think the book is unpatriotic or something like that (which I think it's not) I'd like to say: wake up, no country is perfect, even not the US...
Rating:
Summary: Initially entertaining, but quickly becomes tired
Review: Since I am iconoclastic and have a sardonic sense of humor a number of friends told me how hysterical this book was prompting me to buy it. However, I had reservations based upon my disappointment with Bryson's "Notes from a Small Island". About half way through this book my sentiments with this book were similar. Initially his observations make you laugh, but they soon begin to sound shrill and sometimes mean. The ongoing descriptons of gluttonous and overweight Americans quickly become old and ring unkind. They are also ironic from someone who continually describes retiring to his hotel room with a six pack and a package of Reeses cups. For those who enjoy sardonic humor the book starts out strong. Bryson skewers mundane, middle brow, consumption obsessed American culture. However, Bryson often undermines his valid points about the suffocation of America's small towns due to those proliferation of soleless strip malls along the highways lining the communities' outskirts. The author is an unabashed Anglophile and rather than simply allowing these apt observations to stand by themselves he diminishes them by pointing out how these American communities pale in his eyes when compared with those of Britain. He also suggests that welcoming, seemingly credulous,Americans are somehow less capable, even less intelligent, and certainly less sophisticated (in his opinion) than their British counterparts. Clearly there are many things than can be improved in the United States and we have wasted much of our heritage through unrestained commericalism and development. However, Philadelphia is more than a slum, New York is more than a citadel of crime and depravity, and there are certainly more than a few handsome, viable, culturally sophisticated communities in the entire United States. At the end of his tour of the country he clearly nostalgically, but almost begrudeonly, warms to and acknowledges that there are some positive aspects of American culture, At that point, however, the reader has become alienated. Many of us realize what is lacking in many of our communities and we don't need Bill Bryson to validate what's right about the United States or much less to suggest that England is the ideal prototype for us to model.
Rating:
Summary: An unsparing look at America
Review: This book was mean-spirited, misanthropic, and cruel--I loved it. I think most of the negative reviewers of this book would benefit by lightening up a little and getting a sense of humor. If you're a blind, gung-ho, flag-waving, patriotic America-booster then this book will deflate your bubble. I think America is the greatest country the world has ever seen and I love it, but if you sincerely love your country then you will be able to criticize it and laugh at it sometimes. Bryson's hilariously sharp eye catches all of middle America's absurdities, but what saves the book's harshness is that he doesn't forget to target the biggest absurdity here--himself (yes, the [sad man] who whines about how boring everybody is around him but spends most of his time alone in a motel room drinking beer and eating candy). For me the main joke of the book is that Bryson spends most of his time trying to escape from somewhere rather than looking forward to his next stop. Yes, perhaps some of his targets are a little too easy, but still hilarious. As a travel book: 1 star. As a comedy: 5 stars
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Summary: The Truth of Road Trips
Review: Bryson hilariously captures the unique combination of delight, embarrassment, and boredom that only a drive across the United States can bring. Anyone who has taken the cross-country drive with the family will recognize the America Bryson captures so well. For every toxic passage that leads the reader to question whether Bryson is a misanthrope (e.g., his numerous descriptions of obese, tacky American tourists), there's a passage of pure delight, such as Bryson's description of the squares in downtown Savannah, Georgia. Despite any clear plot other than to keep moving and see everything, Bryson through his wit and insight compels the reader to join him on this journey. It's an understatement to call Bryson funny -- several passages had me laughing out loud. This is the first of Bryson's works that I've read, and I'm looking forward to diving into the rest of them.
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Summary: Lies Lies Lies
Review: As a reader from the much maligned town of Carbondale, Il., I feel compelled to set the record straight. Bryson's account of his brief visit to my hometown is simply not true. (Bill- you can't buy beer in convenience stores in Carbondale. I know. My family has been in the liquor business for almost 40 years.) If ONE of his accounts is embellished, or, more accurately, a LIE, how can a reader believe anything written here? Go ahead...make up moderately entertaining, if negative and patronizing, tales about travels in America. But be sure to file them under Fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a good audio book
Review: Generally I find Bill Bryson audio books a great way to distract myself while cleaning or doing other hideous things, but this one is the exception. When I discovered that it was a 2-CD audio book, I assumed that it must be the abridged version. Now I don't think so--the narrator talks so fast that I'm surprised the second CD was even necessary. The charm of a Bryson audio book is its story-telling feel. The auctioneer pace of this book lacks that particular charm. I had to continually pause the book to catch my mental breath. The story itself lacks the charm of "In a Sunburned Country" or "Notes from a Small Island." After living for 20 years in England, Bill Bryson decides to take a road trip through America, beginning in Iowa where he grew up. Unlike the other Bryson books, the author is overwhelmingly negative about almost everything he encounters. In his other books, Bryson encounters oddities and odd people in a humorous fashion, sometimes even with delight. This book is completely different, almost hostile. If you are a Bryson fan desperate for a new Bryson book, you might enjoy it. If you are not familiar with Bryson, try "Mother Tongue," "A Short History of Nearly Everything," or "In a Sunburned Country."
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Summary: Good clean, cantankerous fun
Review: Bryson's "The Lost Continent" isn't his best work, but it's still pretty good. Compared to his other books (I've read "In a Sunburned Country" and "A Walk in the Woods"), this one doesn't seem to have much of a spark. It feels like he wrote it more for himself, and less for his readers, as a way to reacquaint himself with the United States after a 10-year stint in England. That said, I enjoyed reading "The Lost Continent" all the same. Sure, his bleating and whining about American foibles gets a little old, but his sense of humor and poignant observations are classic Bryson: just good, clean cantankerous fun. If you're looking for a great piece of travel writing, I don't recommend "The Lost Continent." Nor will you like it if you're thin-skinned about American criticism. But if you want a quick and enjoyable read, with plenty of humorous tales, then Bryson, as usual, won't disappoint you here.
Rating:
Summary: Not Bryson's Best
Review: This book proved to be a disappointment. Whereas Bryson was witty and entertaining in books such as A Walk in the Woods and In a Sunburned Country, he was simply profane and sarcastic in Lost Continent. His generalizations were based on first impressions and left me with the feeling that he wrote the book without taking the time to research the subject. He wrote with a definate bias. Bill should have stayed in England if he thinks so little of the USA.
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