Bryson writes great books - even though they make me crazy!

books:


	• The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America Bill Bryson Harper Perennial, 1990 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 279 reviews view larger image
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funny whining

As has been pointed out by everyone else,
Mr. Bryson whines and complains through the
whole book. BUT, it still has a lot of laugh
out loud moments, getting me strange looks from
everyone several places where I happened to be reading it.

Bryson writes great books - even though they make me crazy!

I honestly cannot put Bryson's books down. They are good reads - I've just ordered three additional Bryson books and can't wait to recieve them.

This being said - I need to re-read this book and keep a running total of just how many places he starts to go to and doesn't - because of a steep entrance fee, because of traffic, because of a plethora of reasons. I'm guessing the tally on the 'intended to' side might be greater than the tally on the 'actually experienced, as a bona fide ticket holder / road traffic warrior'. Yes, I understand what he's trying to say about Americans being easily parted with their money. However, the 'lesson' becomes annoying, and comes off as an excuse he uses to just not see many important sites first-hand.

Also, try to develop a tough skin before reading this book if you are a resident of the South - or any small town anywhere in the country that could with any stretch of the imagination be considered 'backward'. My conclusion of Bryson's absolute distain for certain places, primarally but not limited to the South, is that it is so much easier to pull comedy out of the negative than the positive. Also, people are, by nature, inclined to notice the bad before the good. Bryson, especially but not limited to this earlier work, goes with the easier cliche slam against whole peoples.

Don't get me started in his bizarre anti-elderly people stance. He goes on rants about Americans not recognizing national treasures. He's referring to architecture and landscape for the most part. And shows complete distain to the elderly. It reflects either a genuine over-zealous dislike, or an attempt at humor gone too far and repeated much too often.

All being said, I'm still gonna read his work. It's entertaining!

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Making loving fun of America

Bryson, an American who has lived for many years in England, sets out alone, in a Chevette! (maybe he should have taken a Camry), from his mother's house in Des Moines to re-live the family vacation car trips of his youth and search for the perfect small town. He travels through thirty-something states and finds a lot of nice, dotty people and endearing tackiness. As the Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff is fond of saying, "What a country!" I've spent a lot of time on the same by-ways, and drawn similar conclusions. Always perceptive and entertaining, often offensive, and a lot of good laughs.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

An unsparing and hilarious account of one man's rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town.