false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/26.jpg 26 23 A travelogue by Bill Bryson is as close to a sure thing as funny books get. <i>The Lost Continent</i> is no exception. Following an urge to rediscover his youth (he should know better), the author leaves his native Des Moines, Iowa, in a journey that takes him across 38 states. Lucky for us, he brought a notebook. <p> With a razor wit and a kind heart, Bryson serves up a colorful tale of boredom, kitsch, and beauty when you least expect it. Gentler elements aside, <i>The Lost Continent</i> is an amusing book. Here's Bryson on the women of his native state: "I will say this, however--and it's a strange, strange thing--the teenaged daughters of these fat women are always utterly delectable ... I don't know what it is that happens to them, but it must be awful to marry one of those nubile cuties knowing that there is a time bomb ticking away in her that will at some unknown date make her bloat out into something huge and grotesque, presumably all of a sudden and without much notice, like a self-inflating raft from which the pin has been yanked." <p> Yes, Bill, but be honest: what do you really think? 1888943 book 1989 The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America total:4372|5:895|4:1708|3:1308|2:344|1:117| 4372 16036 5949 541 1 11 false false Thu Sep 27 04:13:57 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 29 23:40:20 -0700 2007 The Lost Continental: A Look at Bill Bryson

I should preface this essay by saying that if everyone didn’t like this Bill Bryson book as much as I didn’t, he would be about the wealthiest author on the planet. At least I bought it. I have several of his books and have read all of them....more...]]> 1 5 false false Tue Feb 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 13 08:41:13 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 13 08:55:00 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 4 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 02 16:20:42 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 05 18:10:49 -0800 2008 Pedagogy of Freedom, Judith Butler's Excitable Speech, and Yves Simon's Freedom and Community, as well as ...more...]]> 2 5 true false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 14:23:08 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 31 14:40:17 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 4 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Dec 06 19:55:00 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 06 19:57:32 -0800 2007 more...]]> 0 2 false false Thu Jun 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 06:33:50 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 20:14:44 -0700 2008
Falsely post-racist "humo...more...]]> 1 2 false false Fri Dec 19 11:57:45 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 12:02:25 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Mar 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 05:03:43 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 05:03:20 -0700 2009
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 w...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 03 19:50:10 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 24 21:47:13 -0700 2009 New York magazine and says, "The kind of book Steinbeck might have written if he'd traveled with David Letterman instead of Charlie the Poodle."

Thus proving my theory that any and every situation can be improved by the presence of a dog...more...]]> 1 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 24 12:42:55 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 11 11:35:42 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Sep 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 18 07:01:19 -0700 2008 Sun Sep 07 09:46:20 -0700 2008
There are lots of laughs in this book. His depictions of Io...more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 12 10:44:58 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 21:18:30 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Jan 28 17:15:28 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 03:41:07 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 17:15:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 14 18:05:07 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 14 18:18:08 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 06:48:21 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 03 13:39:07 -0700 2007 The Lost Continent seems very much like an “after the return” sequel to his Notes from a small island, particularly in the way Bryson travels through rural towns of unremarkable podunkery in an effort to better understand and come to grips with society and culture and his place in it. Some of t...more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jun 27 19:48:13 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 07 18:16:55 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 09 18:59:52 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 14 20:11:55 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 true false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 07:16:25 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 08 08:35:47 -0700 2008 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Jan 03 13:25:02 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 03 13:25:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Nov 02 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 16:40:06 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 17:19:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=26