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Women's Fiction
Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe

Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe

List Price: $14.00
Your Price: $10.50
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Neither Good Nor Worth It! Truly Awful
Review: I was totally dissappointed that the author of so many wonderful and compelling travelling stories could produce such a blatantly offensive novel. Neither Here Nor There is nothing more than a rambling, stereotypical take on Europe and its people. Absent is any of the charm, wit, and carefully constructed observations of people and places that are the hallmarks of his other books.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Laugh till you cry, funny!
Review: Neither here nor There was the first Byrson book I read, and have subsequently obsessively read all the others. This is by far the funniest. Avoid reading it in public, as others may find your sudden outbursts of hysterical laughter grounds for you being admitted to a mental institution. This book is not however for the easily offended

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Average Bryson--start with the others
Review: This book is an average book: enjoyable at times, slow and boring at others. While Bryson maintains his sarcastic style used in Walk in the Woods, Notes from a Small Island and the Lost Continent (all better choices as intros to Bill's brain), he fails to bring out what always saved his sarcastic rants: his fondness for the people or country.

In the 3 books I listed, Bryson deliciously skewers the US and UK and their people, but there's always a loving undercurrent underneath (kind of like teasing the sibling which you love to death). In case you miss the point, he would end the book by saying how much he loved the respective countries.

In this book, no such love is found. He just rants and raves about different European peoples and cities. Further lowering the enjoyability of this book are the few remarks that could be considered racist or xenophobic. As to these remarks, they don't get a lot of airplay and only sensitive people (or members of the groups) will object to them, but they're there nonetheless.

All in all, I'd recommend this book only for those who have read the other Bryson travel books and need to read everything he has written. Otherwise, read the 3 books listed above and his essay compilation "I'm a Stranger Here Myself."

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ugly American Revisited
Review: I bought this book with the hopes that it would be a story of Bryson's misadventures with the imimitable Katz. Unfortunately, it seems to be a Contintent long ethnocentric rant. The only redeeming thing is that Bryson includes himself and his adopted britain in on the abuse.

If you travel with as many preconceptions and make snap judgements as Bryson does, you are in for some very dissappointing trips.

Paul Theroux writes with much more humor and insight.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Laugh Out Loud Funny.
Review: I loved this book. I have read it several times over the years especially on planes and I laugh so hard each time. The comments about it being racist and Mean spirited are unfounded . Its funny and hilarious. I am European living in the United States and I have travelled around Europe and found similar situations. Enjoy the book for what it is . I plan on reading it again real soon.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Can anyone say...xenophobic?
Review: From Bryson's descriptions of Swiss people as boring, to racist cracks about gypsies in Italy, I wonder why I am the only reviewer who felt annoyed. (Maybe he should read Isabel Fonseca's "Bury me Standing" and learn a little about the culture of gypsies. Sure they can be annoying, but you'd have to be a stupid schlep to get pick-pocketed as easily as he did) This is one uptight American that I wouldn't want to travel with. This is a great book for people who like to travel to foreign countries to rip on other peoples' cultures. A colossal bore.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Damn funny!
Review: It is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read, but it does go a little dry towards the end. Nevertheless, it makes for a very amusing tour of Europe.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: amusing, but it feels rushed at the end and gets dry
Review: I read this book over the summer and discovered that there was much I could relate to; having travelled on a slim budget through Europe only a few years before. The book got into European novelties that "you'd have to see to believe" and unless you've been there to experience that, sometimes it's tough to get the humor of the situations Mr. Bryson shares. However, the trip gets long, not only for the reader, but also the author himself seems to hurry through the last few chapters, providing less detail of the trip and therefore the humor also dries up. I did enjoy the reflections presented throughout the book contrasting the trip the author took 20 years ago and the changes he noted, not only in the countries he travelled in but in the traveller as well. Overall, I found it good for a few laughs, but not a trip I'll take again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Absolutely hysterical.
Review: Bill Bryson, in his mid 40's, recreates the trip he took to Europe when he was 20. Any baby boomer who traveled Europe on the cheap in the 70's will love it. Those of us who have returned to Europe since then will adore it. I laughed out loud throughout

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Exactly what I've been through in Europe!
Review: I couldn't stop laughing while reading this book after a day-long meeting, back in my hotel room in England. I have travelled to Europe at least once a year, sometimes for business, most for holidays, for the past 10 years. The author's experiences, and impressions, of Europe match mine exactly. This book is a wonderful memoir for anyone who has travelled to Europe on a self-guided tour; it will remind them of what they've seen and done there. It is definitely not a travel "guide" book for people who intend to use the book for planning their trips.


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