 "There's Humor Everywhere" | 2008-09-15 |
| - Reviewed By lh422 |
| This book: part humor, part travelogue, narrates Bryson's road trip across the United States and back again. Bryson travels without strict itinerary, and with frequent stops in small towns across the country. The narrative is written in classic Bryson style, with frequent diversions to explain the origin of many of life's oddities, and with constant sideline commentary. As is usually the case with Bryson, the narrative is illuminating, amusing, and shows Bryson's sense of adventure. It was a pleasure to read. Yes, Bryson is frequently critical, but it's important to note that he's an equal-opportunity offender. Wherever he goes he brings his decidedly sarcastic wit, but he also balances criticism with admiration. This is not a book with a weighty message about humanity or morality, but it is a fun read to pick up and put down at leisure. And the ability to dive in and out is one of the beautiful things about this book; one can enjoy it and put it aside at will, and it takes little time to become reengaged in Bryson's prose. |
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| "Good travel reading" | 2008-07-27 |
| - Reviewed By edshull |
This is my first Bill Bryson book, so I can't compare this book to his others. But I can say that I really enjoyed the sarcastic humor at the expense of middle America. Many authors try and fail to bring the same amount of wit to their books as Bill Bryson.
Bryson's journey took place in 1988, which makes the book a little dated. But you have to wonder how much less fun the trip would be with a cell phone, email, GPS and Yelp. It's a little depressing to read about how much had changed in this country in 1988, and realize that was 20 years ago.
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 "Not the best of Bryson" | 2008-07-26 |
| - Reviewed By gwendygb |
| This just doesn't compare to his earlier two books, nor to his recent memoir. I thought Kerry Shale did a poor job of narrating and finding Bryson's pace. Bryson did a wonderful job of narrating his own memoir ("The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid") and should insist upon doing the rest of his stories on CD. |
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| "The Lost Bryson" | 2008-06-23 |
| - Reviewed By ctlpareader |
Actually, 3.4 stars. I am always up for a good American road trip book and I have very much enjoyed Bill Bryson's other books. What I got was early Bryson before he found his heart and an America that was beginning to go to seed on its own indifferent overindulgences. If you have not read anything else by Bill Bryson, do not start with this. He got much better in a hurry and wrote some unmissable books, which you might not be inspired to go for if all you've read is this and ended up with a mild case of indigestion. And that would be a shame.
Anyway, in the late 1980's, Iowa native Bryson, who had spent his adult life to date living in England, returned stateside after his dad's death to rediscover America in much the same way his childhood vacations always went--a ramble by car through the heartland. He envisioned stopping in those small town motels with neon signs that had pots of flowers outside and a nice courtyard pool. He envisioned dining on decent local cuisine in a corner restaurant and later shambling about town on foot, discovering its pleasantries. He headed southeast from Des Moines on the first half of a figure eight shaped path that would hit 38 of the 48 contiguous states before he was done, in his mother's old Chevette. After a promising start in Pella, Iowa, things mostly don't go perfectly. He is often bored, the food and food service often not good, and he finds Americans mostly fat and leading unexamined lives while their heritage slips through their fingers.
Bryson makes a lot of bratty jokes and it is obvious he is writing more for his audience in England than here (when he describes the size of a place, for instance, he compares it to Shropshire). He reminds me of people who say they are licensed to tell Polish jokes because they are of Polish descent. That said, the reason I did not demote this more stars is that he was not wrong and not overly cruel about our unexamined lives circa 1987-88. Looking at his picture in time, America was an accident ready to happen. Now obesity is an epidemic, as is the wanton development and lack of municipal planning that has emptied our small towns and ringed our national parks and historic sites. It seemed to him then that we had lost an incredible amount of our cultural heritage already but for those of us who had progressively absorbed it daily without really paying attention, it is really hitting home now.
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 "Read Another Bryson Book..." | 2008-06-06 |
| - Reviewed By uyvsdi |
| Bill Bryson drives aimlessly around America by himself and complains. Not his best work. Anyone who tucks into chicken fried steak every night doesn't get to critique restaurants. If he bothered to study about any culture other than Anglo-American, he might enjoy some of the areas he traveled through. He manages to use racial terms I honestly have not heard in three decades. |
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| "funny whining" | 2008-05-30 |
| - Reviewed By harmgb2 |
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. |
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| "Bryson writes great books - even though they make me crazy!" | 2008-05-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A4D9PF8SJ4RTM |
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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| "Entertaining but leaves a sour taste" | 2008-04-07 |
| - Reviewed By peterbstewart |
| Having been to many of the places Bryson visited in this book, I find myself wondering how he could possibly have had such an apparently unpleasant time. Bryson's wit in this volume is not just biting, it's acidic, even heartless. This book will make you chuckle, but even most of the laughs leave a bad taste in the mouth. I have greatly enjoyed three other Bryson books, but I can't really recommend this one. |
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 "Making loving fun of America" | 2008-04-06 |
| - Reviewed By jabill |
| 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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| "Then and now and here and there" | 2008-03-18 |
| - Reviewed By dpb1 |
It's an account of a car journey from Des Moines, Iowa, where Bryson was born (in 1951) and raised, around small town (and some big town) America during 1987-88 written from several perspectives that give it a special interest. Bryson looks at things in the United States from the point of view of a long-time British resident. He compares what he sees and likes or (more frequently) dislikes in 1987 with what he saw making similar car trips as a child. He looks at the Deep South, the Wild West, the Rockies, New York City and New England through the eyes of a Midwesterner. An added dimension reading it now is to compare what he saw then with things twenty years later (I was reminded of reading Least Heat Moon's "Blue Highways.").
He sometimes seems to be addressing a British reader as he makes his comparisons. In many ways the differences between Britain and America have narrowed, both for better and for worse. London is now a more dangerous city than New York and the English are almost as rich and as fat as the Americans.
He's often misanthropic and grumpy but that adds to the entertainment value. If you want a nice guy saying nice things you buy a guidebook. It's full of great one-liners, even though sometimes he tries too hard to be funny and the jokes get repeated.
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