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beadypea's review against another edition
3.0
More mean-spirited than his later work, but plenty of lol moments!
acsaper's review against another edition
4.0
Ha, oh America!
As much as I hesitated to read a travelogue about America while living abroad (I mean, shouldn't I be reading about my host country), my diminishing pile of books from home lead me to this humorous Bryson tale.
I've now had a couple of encounters with Bryson's writing and each time, seem to grow more and more fond of his haphazard style of not only traveling but writing as well. How many other authors dare pay tribute to their deceased housmaid in the middle of a book or drop in random facts about world happenings in irrelevant places? Now that's the type of stuff that keeps you on your toes!
As for the undying cynicism, well, what do you expect? The man left America to live in Britain of all places! I mean, come on, obviously he's going to find Friday night football and town hall meetings a bit trite!
Personally I find his accounts of each state absolutely hilarious! Bryson's omnipresent cynicism and nack for pointing out the obvious (with out regards to political correctness) bring a bit of truth to 'small town America' that is probably often lost or overlooked in any other true 'guidebook.' To say that that the author is honest about what he feels would be, well, an extreme understatement! Each trip through each state is as steroetypically perfect as is the idea of a fat white man calling a long circular drive across an entire continent with no particular destination a 'vacation.'
To find this book any less than humurous one would have to maintain a cynicism much more deeply rooted than Bryson portrays his own to be, or, perhaps, you might just have to come from one of the dozens of small towns that he makes fun of along the way!
As much as I hesitated to read a travelogue about America while living abroad (I mean, shouldn't I be reading about my host country), my diminishing pile of books from home lead me to this humorous Bryson tale.
I've now had a couple of encounters with Bryson's writing and each time, seem to grow more and more fond of his haphazard style of not only traveling but writing as well. How many other authors dare pay tribute to their deceased housmaid in the middle of a book or drop in random facts about world happenings in irrelevant places? Now that's the type of stuff that keeps you on your toes!
As for the undying cynicism, well, what do you expect? The man left America to live in Britain of all places! I mean, come on, obviously he's going to find Friday night football and town hall meetings a bit trite!
Personally I find his accounts of each state absolutely hilarious! Bryson's omnipresent cynicism and nack for pointing out the obvious (with out regards to political correctness) bring a bit of truth to 'small town America' that is probably often lost or overlooked in any other true 'guidebook.' To say that that the author is honest about what he feels would be, well, an extreme understatement! Each trip through each state is as steroetypically perfect as is the idea of a fat white man calling a long circular drive across an entire continent with no particular destination a 'vacation.'
To find this book any less than humurous one would have to maintain a cynicism much more deeply rooted than Bryson portrays his own to be, or, perhaps, you might just have to come from one of the dozens of small towns that he makes fun of along the way!
alreadyemily's review against another edition
2.0
It's helpful to know this book wasn't written for an American audience. While other books have this noted in the front, I either missed it or it wasn't there. Personally, I'd rate it 1 star, but I'm willing to provide an extra star because it's not really laughing with me but at me, so I suppose it's natural I don't care for it much. I enjoyed the very beginning and most of much smaller second section, The West. Everything in between....
Fat jokes, fat jokes, and more fat jokes. Or just casual weight shaming. Or accent shaming, or education shaming. Or the N-word oh but just speculatively quoting someone so as to demonstrate it's not Bill who is racist... But then also just casual racism from Bill anyway. And homophobic slurs (again not Bill speaking but speaking for someone else... I'm still not okay with it). Oh and let's not forget the abelist shaming of Playboy for featuring a paraplegic. Really?
You can make all kinds of jokes, especially if you're humble and take a few shots at yourself to show it's all in good fun. I'm not saying one needs to be PC all the time. But sometimes things can go too far or be too numerous and it all just becomes tiresome and tacky.
Fat jokes, fat jokes, and more fat jokes. Or just casual weight shaming. Or accent shaming, or education shaming. Or the N-word oh but just speculatively quoting someone so as to demonstrate it's not Bill who is racist... But then also just casual racism from Bill anyway. And homophobic slurs (again not Bill speaking but speaking for someone else... I'm still not okay with it). Oh and let's not forget the abelist shaming of Playboy for featuring a paraplegic. Really?
You can make all kinds of jokes, especially if you're humble and take a few shots at yourself to show it's all in good fun. I'm not saying one needs to be PC all the time. But sometimes things can go too far or be too numerous and it all just becomes tiresome and tacky.
katiescho741's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book after travelling in the USA and I loved every page of it.
The point of the book is to search for the "perfect" small town but Bryson finds himself dealing with non-pedestrian friendly strip malls, and depressing attempts to rake in tourist dough with tacky displays.
But, Bryson has a sense of humour that's very British and his description of these dying main streets, and faux log cabins will make you laugh out loud.
This is a travel book that will make you want to get out there, while you laugh at the horrors of travelling.
My favourite book by Bill Bryson.
The point of the book is to search for the "perfect" small town but Bryson finds himself dealing with non-pedestrian friendly strip malls, and depressing attempts to rake in tourist dough with tacky displays.
But, Bryson has a sense of humour that's very British and his description of these dying main streets, and faux log cabins will make you laugh out loud.
This is a travel book that will make you want to get out there, while you laugh at the horrors of travelling.
My favourite book by Bill Bryson.
bethlovescake's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
caraladd's review against another edition
Not Bill Bryson’s best. This book did not age very well. There wasn’t much of a plot other than his journey through small towns, and the humor was not landing well. I hate not finishing books, but I really couldn’t bring myself to finish this.
alyreads90's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.5