The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989)

I can seethe appeal of Bill Bryson - he writes with a flair of capturing the feeling of traveling - the boredom, the disappointment of attraction not living up to expectations, while capturing the joy of being on the road, going from place to place. Its an interesting dichotomy and this novel captures it perfectly.

Ultimately, I found the book to be dated. No cell phones, off color jokes best left to 20 years ago. But the author is equally critical of everybody. I'm glad I read it- it gave me flashbacks of traveling with my family to Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore, when I was a kid. ( )

'I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to'

And, as soon as Bill Bryson was old enough, he left. Des Moines couldn't hold him, but it did lure him back. After ten years in England, he returned to the land of his youth, and drove almost 14,000 miles in search of a mythical small town called Amalgam, the kind of trim and sunny place where the films of his youth were set. Instead, his search led him to Anywhere, USA; a lookalike strip of gas stations, motels and hamburger outlets populated by lookalike people with a penchant for synthetic fibres. Travelling around thirty-eight of the lower states - united only in their mind-numbingly dreary uniformity - he discovered a continent that was doubly lost; lost to itself because blighted by greed, pollution, mobile homes and television; lost to him because he had become a stranger in his own land.

The Lost Continent is a classic of travel literature - hilariously, stomach-achingly funny, yet tinged with heartache - and the book that first staked Bill Bryson's claim as the most beloved writer of his generation. ( )

This is the first Bryson book I have read, and I was a little concerned by the bad reviews. However, now I have read it I can see both sides. Despite the book being about 25yrs old and I've never visited the States, it is as I imagine it. The south is depicted on TV as it is written in the book, and the differences between the states in terms of attitude is well discussed. I can see why people have taken offence, but no place is without its bad points, and these should be recognised too.

Not the best review I've written, but you get the picture...worth a read despite being quite an old book! ( )

loved it. ( )

loved it. ( )