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Summary: Great book!
Review: This book represents the best of Bryson's work to-date. He completely captures the heart and soul of towns throughout America. Bryson has an amazing talent of bringing you with him to these towns such as Pella, Iowa or Springfield, Illinois. He offers a unique perspective on Americans within each place he visits on this journey. Bryson inspires you to want to drive across America and experience each little thing like eating in a small diner or talking to locals throughout the country. Great book filled with detailed description about the place he visits and the people he mets along the way.
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Summary: From a small town? Read this book
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Bryson's book about his journey through small town America. Several times I was laughing out loud and had to read aloud to my husband. If you are from a small town, you will be able to relate to the author's observations and experiences. Yes, he does at times seem a bit cruel in his comments but take it with a grain of salt. His genuine love for his home country is obvious. I recommend the book for several good laughs.
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Summary: Why did I keep reading?
Review: I had read "A Walk in the Woods" and loved it. So much so, that all my family members got it as a Christmas gift. On recommendation of a classmate, I checked this book out from the library. Thank god I didn't buy it. It took me forever to read. Mostly because he was just plain mean. I kept picking it up, thinking that it was going to get better. NO. If you aren't into this book within the first 50 pages, your not going to enjoy it.
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Summary: Bill, give us more dialog!
Review: As a European who lived and travelled in the States some years ago, I must say that I was surprised by the very limited number of human contacts Bryson made while travelling through small-town America. He seems to be spending all his time driving alone, eating alone (fast food which he abhors) and sleeping alone, in a country rightly famous for the ease with which you can make new acquaintances.He makes no new friends, never gets invited into a local's house, casual conversation is minimal. Compared to his Aussie book (Down Under) which is rich in hilarious dialog, this one is almost 100% descriptive. If I am not mistaken, this is one of Bryson's first books which is perhaps the reason why his writing technique is not as good as in his later works. Nevertheless, if you are a Bryson fan, by all means buy this book!
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Summary: good read if you are not too demanding
Review: This was probably the last Bill Bryson book I will read. I can't help feeling he put almost no effort into it. He drove around America for a few weeks, and spent a few weeks writing two, maybe three drafts. As one of his earlier books, he throws in some often strained "hilarity" (which sometimes was actually pretty funny, had me laughing out loud and looking forward to reading more), in the style of Paul Rieser's "Babyhood". His descriptive writing is sometimes good, but nothing so very special overall. But the real problem with this book is that he did nothing on his trips but wander around in a car, and the only people he spoke with were waitresses, order-takers at fast food joints, hotel clerks and gas station attendants--and then the only conversation was about how to meet his needs of the moment, and his only commentary is on how inept they were at doing that. Bill dresses up his little jaunt with some cheap talk about American wealth and industrial structure, to make it seem like serious commentary. But this is no journey to discover America. Compare to "Blue Highways" by William Least-Heat-Moon, and you will see how facile this book really is. Even a book about Bill Bryson driving around America getting into drunken brawls and looking for prostitutes would have been more interesting.
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Summary: The Lost Continent:Travels in Small Town America
Review: Bill Bryson is like good therapy. I dare you not to laugh out loud. I would read this book every year to remember how good it is. I love his wit and ability to describe a situation. Just read it!
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Summary: Bill Bryson sets out to see America's worst - and finds it
Review: Bill Bryson's lazy shallow 1989 cheap shot of a debut wilts to his exceptional work of just a few years later. Bryson is a funny provocative man - the thoughtful 'A Walk in the Woods' & the informed ecstatic 'In A Sunburned Country' are excellent books, even better on tape/CD as read by the author. (Bill Bryson is a superb reader - I highly recommend you pick up any of the audio versions.)But 13 years on, Bryson may regret "The Lost Continent." It's a simple tale of a European expatriate eager to trash America, driving (never walking or meeting) to any city/town/site that might confirm his set opinions and match his sloppy travel planning. It's a tale of a very silly ignorant man. It's interesting that a writer who condemns fast-pace fast-food instant-gratification American culture drops so many phrases like "I drove on...", "Driving on...," "Within minutes I reached...". These phrases don't happen sometimes - they happen with every other page. This is obviously the work of a writer who spends too much time driving. How American. Even in his best writing, Bill Bryson is not a physical guy. He gets his best material from research, and mostly, just talking with the locals. In this book, he mocks roadside sad-eyes but barely lifts a finger to question, talk or ask. He doesn't give the locals a chance. Worse, Bryson wastes a lot of ink comparing TV commercial excess with his boring truck-pit surroundings. Like TV was ever about reality?... What did he expect? I myself have driven many thousands of miles in Nowhereville, Boondock, Hicktown. In fact, I've driven most the routes Bryson took. Yes, there isn't much culture, yes it's mostly truck pits, sure it's hard to find good food. But I never expected more - I knew what to expect, and took my experience for what it was. I was in the 'nowhere zone' of USA highways - I accepted it as just that. Bryson takes those experiences and condemns the nation. Bill Bryson saves his worst pitch for the last 2 pages. He writes "Well, that was my trip more or less." (This is as bad as a high-school student writing "in conclusion...") He then writes "I saw pretty much everything I wanted to see and a good deal I didn't." This says more about the author and his sloppy aimless travel path. What would you say about a tourist who drove through Santa Fe but didn't bother to experience Navajo Nation? What would you say about a guy who drove through the (winter-closed) North Rim Grand Canyon but didn't bother to check unique Sedona Arizona? Or a bizarre clutz who checks out non-descript flat Pueblo Colorado, makes a point to see Aspen, and - like Inspector Clouseu - gets snowed under. Bryson did not see Denver or even Boulder - he just saw podunk towns. He didn't see Seattle, he didn't see Zion or Bryce Canyon, he didn't check out San Francisco, hike Lake Tahoe, experience Yosemete, or even climb a hill in Yellowstone. What would you say about that travel-writer? A jackass. Obviously Bill Bryson has come a long long way in the decade since. Check out his wonderful recent stuff - skip this.
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Summary: Bryson's best...
Review: The publication of the new Bill Bryson boom is now a landmark in my calendar, but this is the book which set it all off. It's simply one of the funniest books I've ever read. However, the book was published some years before A Walk In The Woods, and made Bryson very popular in the UK well before the latter book broke him in the USA. I'd always wondered what US residents would make of his observations on their country, and it's fascinating now to see how varied the reactions are below. These range from the ecstatic to the 'how dare he have a go at the US when he hasn't lived here for 20 years'. So, I'd simply say this. The writing is first class and witty throughout. If Bryson seems a little jaundiced at times, I think this simply shows that he's lived in the UK for 20 years, and that he's illustrating how different the US and British sense of humour can be. But I don't think he's bad-mouthing his country of birth. If anything, the book is affectionate about the country, warts and all. In fact, since the day I read this book, I've wanted to emulate his journey - I only need 3 months off work!
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Summary: A low quality bash of US small town life, but still funny.
Review: blah, blah, blah...funny remark...blah, blah, blah...complaining about something...blah, blah, blah...funny remark...blah, blah, blah...complaining about something... This is the way the whole book goes. So, if the redundant humor/satire and bashes against the US will keep you entertained then go ahead and pick it up. Otherwise, it really wasn't worth it for me. I am glad he has decided to stay in England.
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Summary: Bryson's disappointing work
Review: Bill Bryson's account of his journey through America leaves much to be desired in terms of wit, creativity, and respect for his subjects. In "The Lost Continent," Bryson fails to share any insight on the United States or its citzens, but rather manages to bash both categories in a totally unobjective way that belies his overrated essence. While missing or barely grazing some parts of the country that are essential to its being (Boston, Texas, and Florida are just some of the subjects that are not mentioned), Bryson relates his depressing story of a nation apparently defined only by its dying downtowns and moronic diner waitresses (the dozens of inane conversations with the former that the author relates are each a spectacle of his lack of both creativity and civility.) In fact, the only region on which he passes high judgment is his home state of Iowa. Furthermore, Bryson's heavy-handed discussion of race relations and his consistent objectification of women seem more appropriate for a book written in 1959, not 1989. Bill Bryson is clearly writing for an audience that already disdains America and gets a kick out of his belittling of its residents. This book is worth reading only to further one's understanding of why ex-patriates should remain that way.
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