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nsheep's review against another edition
1.0
Having finished this book I couldn't tell if Bill Bryson hated or loved small town America. This may be a product of the narrator instead of Bill Bryson himself (I listened to the audiobook) but he came across as snarky and condescending in this novel, making fun of multiple people he met on the road. This is not really a side of the author I enjoyed, and frankly I'll probably stay away from any other of his American road trip novels.
artbookshelfodyssey's review against another edition
4.0
This book Bryson seems to grumble a lot more than in the other ones I've read, and it was getting kind of old after awhile. But I can't help but think that most of his adventures (getting lost, can't find the place he's looking for, or disappointed in the patheticness of the place he's looking for) would have been avoided if he had the internet, gps, cell phone, etc. But since this took place in 1990 none of that was around. Which led me to an interesting thought...has gps, internet, etc made our travels more boring, or more enjoyable? Getting lost is half the fun, right?
vortimer's review against another edition
2.0
Since starting reading Bryson almost exactly a year ago, I've found his output varied: some I've greatly enjoyed, and some I haven't. This is towards the latter.
It covers much the same ground as some of his other US set writing - perhaps if I'd read this first I'd have given it a higher score - and the mean spirited edge to some of his humour is more evident here.
It covers much the same ground as some of his other US set writing - perhaps if I'd read this first I'd have given it a higher score - and the mean spirited edge to some of his humour is more evident here.
mccluskey's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.5
I didn’t know it was possible to laugh out loud so much at a book!!
kcrouth's review against another edition
4.0
the quote on the cover sucked me in:
". . . the kind of book Steinbeck might have written if he'd traveled with David Letterman instead of Charlie the poodle." - New York magazine. (sic)
"The Lost Continent" is a hilarious, irreverent, yet thoughtful trek around the mainland US during the mid 1980s. If you have ever read anything by Bill Bryson, you know what a wonderfully entertaining smart-ass he can be. Well what better traveling companion on a jaunt literally around the entire US in an aging Chevrolet Chevette shit-wagon?
This book is a wild, thoroughly entertaining 14,000 mile ride, taking the back roads (hats off to William Least Heat-Moon's "Blue Highways" and Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley") and stopping to smell the roses along the way. I really enjoyed this journey, particularly because my wife and i have traveled a good portion of it over the last 4 years. Having taken three driving trips to Colorado, New Mexico, California, Missouri and Kansas, we actually saw and stopped at many of the same places Mr. Bryson writes about. I can't say that my comments are the same as his, but it was great to hear his clever sense of humor narrating the places we've visited so recently. All in all, this book is a trip worth taking!
". . . the kind of book Steinbeck might have written if he'd traveled with David Letterman instead of Charlie the poodle." - New York magazine. (sic)
"The Lost Continent" is a hilarious, irreverent, yet thoughtful trek around the mainland US during the mid 1980s. If you have ever read anything by Bill Bryson, you know what a wonderfully entertaining smart-ass he can be. Well what better traveling companion on a jaunt literally around the entire US in an aging Chevrolet Chevette shit-wagon?
This book is a wild, thoroughly entertaining 14,000 mile ride, taking the back roads (hats off to William Least Heat-Moon's "Blue Highways" and Steinbeck's "Travels with Charley") and stopping to smell the roses along the way. I really enjoyed this journey, particularly because my wife and i have traveled a good portion of it over the last 4 years. Having taken three driving trips to Colorado, New Mexico, California, Missouri and Kansas, we actually saw and stopped at many of the same places Mr. Bryson writes about. I can't say that my comments are the same as his, but it was great to hear his clever sense of humor narrating the places we've visited so recently. All in all, this book is a trip worth taking!
booksarecoolwhoknew's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
2.75
The oldest but also most dated of Bill Bryson’s books I’ve read. Informative and funny like the others, but he comes across as particularly abrasive in regards to problematic views & language in this book and it was draining by the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Racial slurs
liv_congdon's review against another edition
It wasn't the witty fun book I was hoping for and that the ve experienced with Bryson before. It was written in the 80s, and while illuminating how far we've come, I couldn't be bothered with th mysogeny and fatphobia and small mindedness
book_concierge's review against another edition
2.0
Audiobook narrated by William Roberts.
Subtitle: Travels in Small Town America
After living abroad for some years, Bryson returns to his home country eager to scratch his nostalgia itch for the road trips and experiences of his childhood. Setting out from his childhood home in his mother’s “aging Chevrolet Chevette,” he traverses the back roads of most of the contiguous forty-eight states in search of the perfect small American town, where “Bing Crosby is the priest, Jimmy Stewart is the mayor, and Fred MacMurray is the principal.”
The jacket promises “an uproariously funny narrative” but the book didn’t deliver … at least not in my opinion. I found much of it very dated (it was originally published in 1989), and his snide remarks about many of the places he visited were downright mean-spirited. In fairness, I also am dismayed by the commercialization and sameness of much of the landscape (I love driving vacations and have made many a trek across the USA), and I cringe at the ridiculous souvenir shops at even the most honored historic or natural sights. But I can ignore the shop selling commemorative pillows and mugs and still enjoy the majesty of Mammoth Cave, for example, or the historic information about Salem, Massachusetts.
I listened to this on audio, and William Roberts does a very good job of the narration. I wish he had better material to work with.
Subtitle: Travels in Small Town America
After living abroad for some years, Bryson returns to his home country eager to scratch his nostalgia itch for the road trips and experiences of his childhood. Setting out from his childhood home in his mother’s “aging Chevrolet Chevette,” he traverses the back roads of most of the contiguous forty-eight states in search of the perfect small American town, where “Bing Crosby is the priest, Jimmy Stewart is the mayor, and Fred MacMurray is the principal.”
The jacket promises “an uproariously funny narrative” but the book didn’t deliver … at least not in my opinion. I found much of it very dated (it was originally published in 1989), and his snide remarks about many of the places he visited were downright mean-spirited. In fairness, I also am dismayed by the commercialization and sameness of much of the landscape (I love driving vacations and have made many a trek across the USA), and I cringe at the ridiculous souvenir shops at even the most honored historic or natural sights. But I can ignore the shop selling commemorative pillows and mugs and still enjoy the majesty of Mammoth Cave, for example, or the historic information about Salem, Massachusetts.
I listened to this on audio, and William Roberts does a very good job of the narration. I wish he had better material to work with.