This review contains the description of Bryson's misogynist and racist jokes. Disgusting stuff. Slavery and sexual assault as punchlines.


I have found Bryson's humour obnoxious in some of his other books, but this was disgusting.

Most of this book he is a fat shaming misogynist who constantly reminds the reader that women should only exist to please men. He also thinks that it is funny or okay to make fun of poor people. Because he thinks poor people are ugly, fat and stupid and that is such a silly thing.

But the hands down most disgusting thing is, when a rape of a black slave is made in to a punchline in a joke about how he would have paid more attention to history in highschool if they had told all the sexy and boob-related things, such as the story of how Thomas Jefferson kept a black slave for sex. This is made into a joke about how these kind of a soucy "tit-bits" of history would have made it interesting for a horny teenager.

Slavery and rape. Seriously. Do not read this book.

This book has given me a lot of suggestions of places to visit in the US. Top of my list is the Henry Ford museum in Illinois. Apparently it contains things like Abraham Lincoln's chair, George Washington's desk and the JFK's car. This book is a bit like the collections in that museum-totally varied and you never know what is coming next. On my to visit list now are the little Dutch town, Pella, in Iowa, Mackinac Island in Wisconsin, and Wyoming-anywhere in that state sounds good. Las Vegas, Providence and long distance bus journeys are off it. Great book.

Ok, if you had a slightly cynical and funny uncle who doesn't want to say too much in front of your parents because he doesn't want to get in trouble about corrupting you and using curse words in your presence but as soon as your parents walk out of the room he tells you what he really thinks of Las Vegas, well, Bill Bryson could be that uncle. Now, I must admit to a fist-pumping appreciation of midwestern courtesy, which Bryson admires and misses as he travels across the country, so my bias is clear, but I would have liked this book even if Bryson and I didn't share small town midwestern experience. Usually travel books/memoirs of this nature are either impossibly hip or stullifying dull. Bryson transcends both those expectations and writes a breezy, personable book about returning to his home country and driving around for a few months. His takes on over-eager waitresses and white trash tourists are spot-on and his descriptions of the paradoxes associated with mind-numbing long drives and beautiful emerging vista will be recognizable to anyone into long road trips. This was my first Bryson book; I'll check out more soon.

Whoever said "you can't go home again" obviously never told Bill Bryson as he travels around the lower forty eight states to get a feel for his home country in this lively and witty travelogue.

I bought it for my fiance as he previously read "A Walk in the Woods" by the same author and he loves that book. I'm just about 6 hours he's already about halfway through this one and he said while it's not as funny as the other one I mentioned, he does really enjoy this one and still loves reading it.

A good source for identifying worthwhile places to visit, such Santa Fe. Bryson seems grouchy an awful lot of the time, though.

I am giving this book five stars because it is very enjoyable and at many times laugh-out-loud funny.  But despite the five-star rating, I can't say that it is "perfect."

The weaknesses: I am not easily offended, but after awhile I have to admit that Bryson's mocking of obese people became... old.  We get it; the tourists were overweight. Comedy is comedy, and nothing should be off limits.  But boring your readers should be off limits, and I got tired of reading descriptions of people's weight problems.  I also got tired of Bryson's mean-spiritedness toward the local people he interacted with, making fun of their accents or basically ridiculing them to their face.

Okay, all that said - the book is at its best when Bryson is making comedic observations about the nature of American culture or the places he is driving through.  I burst out laughing so many times that my husband thought I was crazy.  Having done a few road trips through the heart of America, the majority of his remarks are dead-on accurate.  I wish he had spent more time in the west because that section could have used some fleshing-out.  But in any case, I highly recommend this to someone interested in a laugh, American culture, or both.

"The Lost Continent" is an early non fiction travel tour story, by Bill Bryson, about the "Lower 48" of the United States.  The book was written in the 1980s. As understand it, Bill Bryson was born and raised in Iowa.  He then moved to England.  As a resident of England, he returns to America, and embarks upon a one person travel tour of the continental United States.  He does not drive through every state.  He then writes this book, I think his target audience is Europeans.

Bill Bryson combines a description of the areas he drives through and additionally adds stories about his own youth and other stories about America and Americans.  As an American, I did find some of his observations and commentaries to be completely uproarious.  However at times his sarcasm went too far and I found the book momentarily offensive and boorish.  Mostly I found the book really funny and I completely enjoyed it.  I do wish to add there were states that the author did not drive through and did not comment upon.

In addition to reading this fine book on Kindle, I listened to the audiobook, narrated by William Roberts.  I found William Roberts to be particularly effective in conveying the comedic aspects of is work.  I found myself repeatedly laughing out loud at the reading of William Roberts.  But there is a LOT of sarcasm and one needs to keep one's sense of humor.

In summary, I really enjoyed this book.  I would call the audiobook and "easy listen" that I could listen to on a speaker while driving.  I found the book mostly very humorous, at times boorish, but on the whole very funny.  I am glad that I read the book and intend to read another book by Bill Bryson.  Thank You....

Ho letto prima la versione italiana di questo libro e ho deciso di rileggerlo in lingua originale per cercare le differenze e vedere il cambiamento di stile.
Ovviamente la traduzione italiana cambia lo stile e anche se è ben fatta e sempre brillante, in lingua originale l'autore sembra molto più vicino.
Bryson racconta del suo viaggio in America, alla ricerca dei suoi luoghi d'infanzia, libro intelligente e leggero.
Consigliato in tutte e due le lingue.

Book quality is amazing considering its printed in 1990s.
Bought in second hand but its almost new and no wear and scribbles.
Overall more than satisfied with pages quality font size, binding and one of the funniest books to read

Me encantó

So, I first read "A Walk in the Woods" and loved it.  I enjoy hiking so I have been planning hiking the Appalachian Trail one day after reading it.  This was my first Bill Bryson book and I decided to read another.
Another activity I have done a little of and want to explore more of is a road trip across the United States.  I drove from Atlanta to For Drum in Norther New York in 2019, stopping along Chattanooga, Nashville, Gatlinburg, Washington DC, Atlantic City, and then Fort Drum itself.  Having read other books on road trips, I was hoping this one would be entertaining with all the sites and annoying things you find on road trips.
So, he must have done this road trip in more than one year.  In some places, it says the places were closing up for the season like he was driving in fall.  Then in the last part he says it was in May.  That was confusing, then he basically just complained about everything.  I can say from road trips, finding a place that sells sandwiches and stocking up in case restaurants are closed or full is essential.  He was alone on this road trip and I would be bored out of my mind if I was driving over 13,000 miles alone.  He also stopped at tourist spots, then complained they catered to tourists.  I may read the other book where he is traveling with the same guy he traveled with in "A Walk in the Woods," but I do not think I will read any more of his books after this.  He really came off as an unpleasant person in this book, just complaining and mocking small town people.  I would not recommend this book for anyone.