Chris B. (ceebab) reviewed The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America on + 6 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 9
He's very cynical, which is fine for a short article but very tiring for a long book. It started to seem like he was purposely driving around looking for things not to like. It was like being on vacation with my dad. Not fun.
Helpful Score: 8
A quick read...it totally sucked me in. Now I've got a serious case of wanderlust and desperately want to take a long roadtrip. Too bad gas is so much more expensive now than when Bryson took his trip!
Laurie H. (lah) reviewed The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America on + 37 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 8
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.
Amy D. (Iowan) reviewed The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America on + 173 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
I've enjoyed many of Bryson's books and knew that he didn't hold back when critiquing the people, places and things he's encountered, but somehow I was saddened to find page after page of his disappointment in all things American. Yep, he's an American, but somehow his time in Britain his given him license to be snobbish and elitist. Still and yet, the book was entertaining with a number of passages that made me laugh out loud. While the cynicism became grating mid-book, it was still an enjoyable enough read, if only because I had been to many of the places he degrades and have shared his frustration with the commercialization and crassness of tourist culture - but I don't have to write a book to tell everyone that I am "better than that".
Helpful Score: 3
Bryson takes a 38-state driving tour of the USA. Somehow he manages to find a lot of towns that are boring and bothersome; but he writes about them with such sincerity that you find yourself laughing about his travels.
