But then he praises Detroit's Henry Ford Museum: "Grudgingly I paid the admission charge and went in. But almost from the moment I passed through the portals I was enthralled." And Charleston, SC: "I walked away the afternoon, up and down the peaceful streets, secretly admiring all these impossibly happy and good-looking people and their wonderful homes and rich, perfect lives."
Bryson's decades living in England make so much about America appear fresh to him, from TV commercials to the "chichi" signs on a shop door. Like many readers, I watched to see if Bryson would visit my hometown, and then waited with bated breath to see if it would receive that rare sweet comment, or strike a sour note. Even Bryson himself is not immune; he detoured from his planned route to visit Bryson City, and found himself regretting he did not have a crowbar to remove a souvenir sign.
I particularly fancied having the Bryson City Church of Christ sign beside my front gate in England and being able to put up different messages each week like REPENT NOW, LIMEYS.I like Bill Bryson's books; I've been to many of the places he describes, or feel that I have, anyway, after reading them. It's the way he has of taking us along, like passengers in the back seat of the family car. We may not pick the itinerary, but there we are, enjoying and suffering by turns as Bryson drives.
Are we there yet?
Article comments
1 - Joel Caris
I absolutely love Bryson. I'm almost out of books to read by him, which makes me sad. But I still have A Short History Of Nearly Everything to tackle, which should keep me busy for a little while, at least.
I read The Lost Continent last year and just loved it. It's amazing how he can combine funny with poignant with informative without it ever seeming hard. Some of the most entertaining reading I've ever had.
2 - DrPat
I had to repair the Amazon links - I think the ones I had before were from the UK site.
I tear up every time I read it. *sniff*We started with I'm a Stranger Here Myself, and enjoyed it so much we got every other book by Bryson. I admit, though, The Lost Continent is my favorite.
I particularly liked the last paragraph:
3 - Joel Caris
The Lost Continent was definitely one of his best. I'm not sure if I could name a favorite, though. If I did name one, it might very well be A Walk In The Woods. It's the first book I read by him and I still love it. I think it helps that I like hiking so much, myself.
It also probably helps that it was the first book I read by him, thus my first exposure to his great and funny writing.
4 - Dritte
I'm 50 pages in and I have to know if its worth continuing. You see I'm one of those dolts from Dunder who doesn't mind the prairie and I think I've had enough of the smugness and condescension and just plain meanness that leaps out. Does it get better or is it one continous Iowa joke about people who work for a living?