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Average Customer Rating:

Bill Bryson finally fizzles and sputters out

Customer Rating:

I am a fan of Bill Bryson. I simply loved his Short History of Nearly Everything and In a Sunburned Country. Just awesome stuff. Reread both several times. I liked several other of his travel books, as well. But this...this is just...bad. I mean seriously bad. He makes fun of darned near everything from his youth from his family on, and not in a funny, teasing, but affectionate way like Gene Shepherd had the sense and talent to do, but in a really nasty and distateful way. And it's just not funny. Nasty satire can be a guilty pleasure...like the old National Lampoon magazine managed from time to time (remember the Teddy Kennedy Volkswagon ad?), but this stuff is just...bad and boring. I guess Mr. Bryson is just not talented as I thought, and hoped, he was.

Side-splittingly Funny!

Customer Rating:

I'd read four Bryson books before I read this one, and this is the funniest of the lot. Irreverence and biting wit on almost every page. I've definitely had more laughs from this book than any other I've ever read. I can only assume that the people who are giving this riveting work a meager one star are the kind of people who are more than happy to laugh at Bryson poking fun at anyone else, but when his inimitable humor is directed at them it ceases to be funny. Kinda reinforces some Bryson's observations in this excellent work. Thoroughly recommended.

small towns, big enjoyment

Customer Rating:

This is the third Bryson book that I've read in three months; Bill's persona has become my friend. In fact, I felt like I was in the back seat during his travels around America. I'm so old that I have been to most of the places where "we" traveled. Bryson's wit makes small town USA interesting, and sometimes sad for the "good old days" when our communities resembled our collective character. There is some disdain for big box chain stores and restaurants that dot every landscape and meld our communities into boring familiarity regardless of where we go. "We" had similar feelings about most of the places. I enjoyed the ride. "We" laughed a lot.

Only read this book if you want to develop and intense dislike for the author

Customer Rating:

I gave this book one star only because Amazon doesn't allow the option to select zero stars. My husband and I have read and enjoyed many of Bill Bryson's books. In the past, we considered him one of our favorite writers. After reading this book, it will be a long time before I open another of his works. Mr Bryson's petty criticisms of the small towns through which he drove and his obvious contempt for all things Southern will leave any American who loves her country feeling a deep disdain for all things Bryson. While reading this book, there were many times my husband and I would look at one another and ask, "What could have happened to him to make a man from the Midwest develop such a negative view of all things American?" and "Do you think this book was REALLY written by 'our' Bill Bryson?" (BTW, we no longer consider him 'our' Bill Bryson.) I mentioned that Mr Bryson 'drove through' small towns in America because that's exactly what he describes in the book. After a quick, judgmental glimpse of a town, he bypasses it altogether as totally unworthy of his time, money, or attention. Bryson didn't bother to visit many of the historical attractions along the way. Apparently, he was on a very tight budget. He DID, after all, borrow his mother's old Chevette for the journey. The cost of admission to these sites require him to cut back on his beloved beer and chicken-fried steak. Last, but definitely not least, Mr Bryson showed himself to be a bigot. His contempt for 'all things white and all things Southern' along with his propensity for revisiting every bit of negative racial history every recorded during his BRIEF drive through the deep South demonstrated just how out of touch he is with the country of his birth and his, obvious, disdain for truth. He chose to ignore any progress made in race relations during the past 40 years. He chose to see, and share, his view that America is, and will always be, the country he would most like to see in 'his rearview mirror'. I, for one, welcome him to return to his country of choice and not bother to darken the doors of the home I love. The last thing the United States of American needs is one more person to describe our country in such negative terms.

There's Humor Everywhere

Customer Rating:

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.