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alyreads90's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
pdxpiney's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Good storytelling but the humor ages very poorly, or perhaps much of it wasn’t all that funny in the first place? Subtle racism and overt sexism and fat phobia are stuck in the 1950s of the author’s childhood.
tlcollier1's review against another edition
2.0
In the years since, Bill Bryson has written many books, all of them better than this one.
Unless you like to read the complaints of a 30-something curmudgeon who is visiting the land of his birth after living in Britain for several years, I recommend any other book he has written.
Seriously he’s a great author in my opinion. Funny, hysterical even. This was just one very long complaint about how he didn’t get what he wanted, when he got what he wanted it wasn’t good, or his general disappointment of the whole country and everyone in it. And it took over a month for me to read it. I got through Brothers Karamazov faster.
Unless you like to read the complaints of a 30-something curmudgeon who is visiting the land of his birth after living in Britain for several years, I recommend any other book he has written.
Seriously he’s a great author in my opinion. Funny, hysterical even. This was just one very long complaint about how he didn’t get what he wanted, when he got what he wanted it wasn’t good, or his general disappointment of the whole country and everyone in it. And it took over a month for me to read it. I got through Brothers Karamazov faster.
ohgovi's review against another edition
2.0
A book about America's boringness-in-general. It's an okayish book that tells you how inanely boring most towns in the USA are, with lots of detailed information, and few pages that interest you. There are lots of redundant pages, which ought not to be there, but just HAVE to, because they're connecting the more important/interesting segments. If you don't live in the USA, or if you don't ever intend on driving around the country, this book is going to be pretty boring. Sure, there are some funny instances where the cynicism of the author make it interesting, but that's about it, just like how he describes most of the towns and in-betweens - lots of vast emptiness, with very little interesting segments.
paperbookslove's review against another edition
Did not finish this. Setting aside the fact that he is miserable from the very start of his road trip, the snide comments about fat people and the special brand of white Northern racism sprinkled throughout made this book unreadable imo. He's in his late thirties when he goes on this trip but he sounds like a cranky old man. No one forced you to do this road trip, Bill. Go back to England.
plurabelle's review against another edition
1.0
This was far too mean spirited for me. Every person he talks about is is either fat, lazy, uneducated, a hillbilly...you get the idea. . It got old within the first 20 pages, and I gave up after 50.
rachie816's review against another edition
4.0
This book was pretty funny. I found it a bit disappointing that he drove through Wisconsin and barely had anything to say about it (I find most of Wisconsin to be quite beautiful), and he only drove through the corner of Minnesota. Overall, however, I really enjoyed reading about his road trip adventure. It makes me want to take a road trip myself!