The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America. [Paperback]

While missing or barely grazing some parts of the country that are essential to its being (Boston, Texas, and Florida are just some of the subjects that are not mentioned), Bryson relates his depressing story of a nation apparently defined only by its dying downtowns and moronic diner waitresses (the dozens of inane conversations with the former that the author relates are each a spectacle of his lack of both creativity and civility.) In fact, the only region on which he passes high judgment is his home state of Iowa.

Furthermore, Bryson's heavy-handed discussion of race relations and his consistent objectification of women seem more appropriate for a book written in 1959, not 1989.

Bill Bryson is clearly writing for an audience that already disdains America and gets a kick out of his belittling of its residents. This book is worth reading only to further one's understanding of why ex-patriates should remain that way.

But 13 years on, Bryson may regret "The Lost Continent." It's a simple tale of a European expatriate eager to trash America, driving (never walking or meeting) to any city/town/site that might confirm his set opinions and match his sloppy travel planning. It's a tale of a very silly ignorant man.

It's interesting that a writer who condemns fast-pace fast-food instant-gratification American culture drops so many phrases like "I drove on...", "Driving on...," "Within minutes I reached...". These phrases don't happen sometimes - they happen with every other page. This is obviously the work of a writer who spends too much time driving. How American. Even in his best writing, Bill Bryson is not a physical guy. He gets his best material from research, and mostly, just talking with the locals. In this book, he mocks roadside sad-eyes but barely lifts a finger to question, talk or ask. He doesn't give the locals a chance. Worse, Bryson wastes a lot of ink comparing TV commercial excess with his boring truck-pit surroundings. Like TV was ever about reality?...

What did he expect? I myself have driven many thousands of miles in Nowhereville, Boondock, Hicktown. In fact, I've driven most the routes Bryson took. Yes, there isn't much culture, yes it's mostly truck pits, sure it's hard to find good food. But I never expected more - I knew what to expect, and took my experience for what it was. I was in the 'nowhere zone' of USA highways - I accepted it as just that. Bryson takes those experiences and condemns the nation.

Bill Bryson saves his worst pitch for the last 2 pages. He writes "Well, that was my trip more or less." (This is as bad as a high-school student writing "in conclusion...") He then writes "I saw pretty much everything I wanted to see and a good deal I didn't." This says more about the author and his sloppy aimless travel path. What would you say about a tourist who drove through Santa Fe but didn't bother to experience Navajo Nation? What would you say about a guy who drove through the (winter-closed) North Rim Grand Canyon but didn't bother to check unique Sedona Arizona? Or a bizarre clutz who checks out non-descript flat Pueblo Colorado, makes a point to see Aspen, and - like Inspector Clouseu - gets snowed under. Bryson did not see Denver or even Boulder - he just saw podunk towns. He didn't see Seattle, he didn't see Zion or Bryce Canyon, he didn't check out San Francisco, hike Lake Tahoe, experience Yosemete, or even climb a hill in Yellowstone.

What would you say about that travel-writer? A jackass. Obviously Bill Bryson has come a long long way in the decade since. Check out his wonderful recent stuff - skip this.

The story itself lacks the charm of "In a Sunburned Country" or "Notes from a Small Island." After living for 20 years in England, Bill Bryson decides to take a road trip through America, beginning in Iowa where he grew up. Unlike the other Bryson books, the author is overwhelmingly negative about almost everything he encounters. In his other books, Bryson encounters oddities and odd people in a humorous fashion, sometimes even with delight. This book is completely different, almost hostile. If you are a Bryson fan desperate for a new Bryson book, you might enjoy it. If you are not familiar with Bryson, try "Mother Tongue," "A Short History of Nearly Everything," or "In a Sunburned Country."