The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America
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- ISBN13: 9780060920081
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
An unsparing and hilarious account of one man’s rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect tiny town.Amazon.com Review
A travelogue by Bill Bryson is as close to a sure thing as amusing books get. The Lost Continent is no exception. Following an urge to rediscover his youth (he should know better), the leader leaves his native Des Moines, Iowa, in a journey that takes him across 38 states. Lucky for us, he brought a pad.
With a razor wit and a kind heart, Bryson serves up a colorful tale of boredom, kitsch, and beauty when you least expect it. Gentler fundamentals aside, The Lost Continent is an amusing book. Here’s Bryson on the women of his native state: “I will say this, but–and it’s a weird, weird thing–the teenaged daughters of these stout women are permanently utterly delectable … I don’t know what it is that happens to them, but it must be dreadful to marry one of persons nubile cuties knowing that there is a time bomb ticking away in her that will at some unknown date make her bloat out into something huge and grotesque, presumably all of a sudden and lacking much notice, like a self-inflating raft from which the pin has been yanked.”
Yes, Bill, but be honest: what do you really reflect?
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Bill Bryson crosses the line between humorous sarcasm to just unadorned bitter, hateful commentary on perfectly lovely spots. He greedily latches on to any stereotype available and exploits it. He happily criticizes events and places he doesn’t even visit. I’m sorry he had such a miserable childhood and mad relationship with his father, but I don’t reflect that justifies trashing an entire country. To Bill, I offer sympathies for a sorrowful youth that has obviously left deep an painful scars even well into his adult years.
I’m so sad to have spent money on this book. I loved Bryson’s Walk in the Woods, and hope to delight in the Sunburned Country. But the Lost Continent is going in the trash.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Just because a writer can turna axiom doesn’t make what he says amusing. Rumor has it that Bryson needed to make a car payment so he cranked out this book. There clearly is not a town or a person in America that Bill Bryson cares for, so it’s a excellent thing he lives in England. This is not a gentle joshing of tiny town quirks or traditions – it’s outright trashing of everything he sees right down to calling the waitresses hideous and wishing he could bash an ancient lady’s head because she talked too much. I didn’t end it, and frankly, I’m not turning it back to the used bookstore – I’m throwing it away. You want a travelogue through tiny-town America? Go read Steinbeck or Charles Kuralt, or plenty of others.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
Save your money, don’t buy this book. Too terrible I can’t give this book a NO-STAR rating. Bryson seems to find small to like in the US. He’s surprised by the sand on Cape Cod and amazed by southern accents. I got a few laughs at the start of this book, but soon it turned grave and cynical. Bryson wants to follow in the footsteps of Dave Barry, but Barry offers humor lacking the caustic bite I find in Bryson’s writing. I got middle through this book and tossed it in the paper-recycle bin.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
A dull trip written by a stout, coarse leader. I’m thankful I’ve traveled many of the states that make up the USA lacking Bryson’s help. It is right that many people in the United States regret the demise of the Americana of our cities and towns, but his portrayal was oftentimes unfair or simply incorrect. Too many drinks do an eye blear. Under persons circumstances it might have been better for us and Mr. Bryson had he just forgotten this entire trip. Thank goodness, he writes more humorously and intellectually and less self-centeredly in his later years.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
blah, blah, blah…amusing remark…blah, blah, blah…complaining about something…blah, blah, blah…amusing 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 yet to be and pick it up. Otherwise, it really wasn’t worth it for me. I am glad he has chose to stay in England.
Reader’s Rating: 2 / 5