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Summary: The Best "Armchair Travel" Book I have EVER read
Review: I only read armchair travel, Micheal Palin, Bill Bryson etc..I have not even finished reading this book, and have already ordered the next one [Sean and David's Long Drive]. An absolute pleasure to read. Goes down really well with a fag, a beer and some hot African Sun........Mister Condon keep it up!!!!!!
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Summary: Observation
Review: I read the other reviews of this book. Americans have no sense of humour, do they?
Rating:
Summary: Observation
Review: I read the other reviews of this book. Americans have no sense of humour, do they?
Rating: 
Summary: Not my cup of tea
Review: I read this book immediately after I read Sean's other book, The Long Drive. Overall, my opinion of this book is worse than the one before. Here he travels from one coast to the other in North America and attempts to describe his travel with humour. If you are new to his writing, you may find it humourous but after having read his earlier book, I found this rather monotonous. The part about trying to find the owner of a bible he picked up was crappy. My personal opinion is that this is a let down.
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Summary: I can't believe some people bought this for a travel guide.
Review: I wonder if the same people who reviewed this book and complained that there was a lack of travel/city information also go to McDonalds when they feel like having a steak. If you want a travel guide, pick up a Fodors. If you want to read a hilarious account of one Australian's trek through America, then this book fits the bill. Once again, Condon is genuinely witty and manages to turn ordinary situations into amusing and interesting events. There's also a fair amount of interesting social commentary on America, but you have to read between the lines. A feat which apparently proved impossible for many people who negatively reviewed this book. Condon is for those who can appreciate and pick up on sublety, sarcasm, and an off-beat but witty sense of humor. Also for those who know not to go to McDonalds when you want a steak.
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Summary: Seanie at his best!
Review: Or maybe it is because the subject area is so close to my heart. Condon disproves the myth that the second book you write is the 'difficult' one.We meet Sean and David on the plane from Australia and leave them there at the end. In between we travel through 2 countries and umpteen states with the gagster Sean and quiet, thoughtful David. I loved this book; I loved the fractured writing style and I loved the offbeat overly-descriptive descriptions of whatever caugt Condon's eye.
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Summary: A cynical, scattered ride.
Review: Sean Condon writes a disjointed, leaping narrative of his ride (only Dave drives) through America's pop culture wasteland. The pages drip with sarcasm and cynicism, a must-read for anyone sick of America's inability to recognize that the only thing we create are marketing campaigns. People prone to shouting "USA! USA! USA!" in large crowds won't enjoy this book, the rest will.
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Summary: Unputdownable!! (I've always wanted to say that)
Review: Seanie (yeah, yeah, don't call him that!), you've done it again. I read this book in a day (which may or may not be a reflection on the slackness with which I approach my work) and spent many moments laughing out loud (and sounding just a little insane). Sean embraces all that is American (or all that seems American, to an Australian raised on a diet of bad American TV), dissects it, and regurgitates it. You will laugh at his pathetic attempts to convince a woman in a motel that he is a TV star, and therefore worthy of getting his name on the door, and you will laugh when Leon the Neon gets struck by lightning. In fact, you'll laugh at everything. Sean and David discover real America - the one that hangs out in laundromats and sleazy bars; the one that runs gun shops (and demands 'specificks'); and the one that blends seamlessly into all of those TV shows and movies that we were forcefed as children. Sean Condon's observations are witty and sarcastic (pardon the tautology) and his celebration of his own pathetic nature lends this book a gloriously self-deprecatory air. And the talking dog does a good cameo too. Basically, you've just got to read it. So there.
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Summary: It's funny, because it's true?
Review: This book was recommended to me with the notion that it was about two Australians who loved American pop culture so much that they decided to drive through the United States themselves and see what it was all about. Well, that's exactly what "Drive Through America" is... a long "Simpsons" episode in which much wackiness ensues and in which, surprisingly, there are a couple of unexpectedly emotional encounters. Author Condon claims to have quit his advertising job in early 1996, and to have used the ensuing free time to drive from New York to San Francisco the long way around. Along for the ride is friend O'Brien, who provides the illustrations and plays the laconic sidekick. Weird things happen to the pair: their rental car is struck by lightning, they travel to the deep South to return a lost bible found on a New York City subway train, and they have a gun-toting encounter on a Hollywood movie shoot. How much of this actually happened is, of course, debatable. For a hint of what the drive through America was really like, check out the acknowledgements, which paint a different picture as to where they stayed and what they saw. So, fine, this is not a straight travelogue but mostly an extended riff on what it's like to walk into the land of all those TV sitcoms and classic movies. The pop culture jokes are all over the place, some of them quite subtle: the "Clockwork Orange" gag (relating to the serial theft of hotel TV remote controls) may have been the best part of the book for me. There's also just a smidgen of social commentary (why does Condon, in the USA, feel he has to buy a gun?). For the most part, the jokes and the exaggerated episodes are enough to make "Drive Through America" a fast, fun read. Perhaps after this you'll want to rent your own car, find your own wise, quiet sidekick, and do it all again on your own.
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Summary: Sean feels so good
Review: What a delight - an Aussie with a sarcastic view on us yanks - sure bet he doesnt feel any gratitude that we saved his ass is WW2. Yous the sort of guy ho thinks culture is drinking spirits from the "lip of the glass" - diss you babe.
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