I've really been enjoying reading Bryson's other books - so grabbed this one at Half Price Books today (and, with a bonus of an extra 20% off since it's a holiday weekend! :)

One of the things I enjoy the most about Bryson is his wit and humor -- but unfortunately, this book just didn't make me laugh out loud like some of his others. In fact, he was a bit of a downer through most of the book -- heaping criticism on most of the places he visited in America. It seems that everywhere he went, he found run-down motels, terrible food, touristy towns, unfriendly people, bad weather and overpriced attractions. He had little positive praise for much of things he saw in the the 38 states he visited. This was quite a drag to read, despite his humor. The book is also quite old (orig. published in 1990), so I felt a lot of his info and observations were a bit dated. Overall, there were a few things I enjoyed in the book -- but I won't be keeping this one.

Sending this one to my sister -- hoping she or her hubby might like it.

Looks good, thanks!

This book is proof that some people can get ANYthing published. The subtitle should have been “Boring, Pointless Road-Trip to America’s College Towns”. He doesn’t even describe the towns very well, choosing instead to indulge his pre-occupation with how black/white or rich/poor the area is. And even if you too were interested in those kinds of observations, this book is 20 years old so much of it is long outdated.

Bryson is known as a humorist, but it escapes me as to why. It’s obvious that he entertains himself by making up random names for people and places – but they never amused me and I imagine they would confuse readers who aren’t Americans. (For example, on one page he references the real town of Intercourse, Pennsylvania and a fake town called Fartville.) In any case, I judge a funny book by how many times I feel the need to read a passage out loud to my husband and this book failed miserably.

Let me save you a good chunk of time and share the few good observations he did come up with:
1) “The difference between farmers in the Midwest and in the Rockies is the advertisement for brands of fertilizer and beer on their baseball caps, respectively.”
2) “American towns are named for the first white guy to get there or the last Indian to leave.”
3) The few pages at the beginning of chapter 23, where he describes the effect seeing the Grand Canyon has on you, is actually pretty perfect.

That’s it. If you insist on reading the book anyway, it’s on you.

On the bookshelf in the office