Drive Thru America [Paperback]

Sean Condon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Travel Literature | Publication Date: March 1, 1998

If you've ever wanted to drive across the US but couldn't find the time (or afford the gas), Drive Thru America is perfect for you.

In his search for American myths and realities - along with comfort, cable TV and good, reasonably priced coffee - Sean Condon paints a hilarious road-portrait of the USA.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Sean Condon and his laconic pal David decide to take a drive, they mean serious business. In their first book, Sean & David's Long Drive, the two Aussies drove across their native land, with Condon recording the experience in a hip, irreverent riff that was both perceptive and downright hilarious. In Sean & David's Drive Thru America, they give the U.S. the same treatment. Starting with Sean's impersonation of a blind man on the flight from Australia to Montreal--just in case he got stuck with a boring seatmate (he didn't)--and ending with Sean's agreement to deliver a letter to Seattle for a mysterious blind man claiming to have sold his corneas, this automobile odyssey is packed full of the strange and the unexpected. As they travel from East Coast to West, Sean and David test out the perimeters of the American popular culture they ingested through imported television shows, films, and music. Imagined encounters with beat poets, real encounters with Texas good ole boys, and a chronicle of the journey framed as a series of scenes in a movie script all contribute to this loopy, entertaining account of how two Australian guys spent their summer vacation.

From Publishers Weekly

A follow-up to Sean and David's Long Drive (through Australia), this "road trip" through America is related by two Aussies with little charm and even less to say. Their journey begins in Montreal, then moves to New York City before heading through the South (Nashville, Jackson, New Orleans) and Southwest (Santa Fe, Flagstaff) to reach their final destination: California, where?surprise, surprise?they hustle Sean's in-progress screenplay. Sean and David are children of the 1970s, repeating familiar laments about cultural confusion and making predictable, ironic pop culture references that will ensure that their book is completely incomprehensible almost immediately after publication. In conversational asides, we hear them discuss life as music video on such topics as marriage: "Exactly who do you invite to the great event?" "Yeah, it's like the ultimate band set list." "And your relatives are the hits from twenty years ago." We are treated to a daily review of motel television offerings, their drug and alcoholic consumption, discourses on the weather in various regions of the country and criticism of the poor quality of roadside food. They also irritate strangers, refusing to recount any but the most meaningless conversations had along the way, and generally prove that if you set out to look for all that is cheap, trendy and superficial about American culture, you will find it. This is a long commercial that advertises the short attention spans and shallow pleasures of traveling with two guys whom you're glad you didn't join on the road.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Lonely Planet; 1St Edition edition (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864425066
• ISBN-13: 978-0864425065
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,239,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can't believe some people bought this for a travel guide., June 27, 2000

By 

rudy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drive Thru America (Paperback)

I wonder if the same people who reviewed this book and complained that there was a lack of travel/city information also go to McDonalds when they feel like having a steak. If you want a travel guide, pick up a Fodors. If you want to read a hilarious account of one Australian's trek through America, then this book fits the bill. Once again, Condon is genuinely witty and manages to turn ordinary situations into amusing and interesting events. There's also a fair amount of interesting social commentary on America, but you have to read between the lines. A feat which apparently proved impossible for many people who negatively reviewed this book. Condon is for those who can appreciate and pick up on sublety, sarcasm, and an off-beat but witty sense of humor. Also for those who know not to go to McDonalds when you want a steak.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's funny, because it's true?, August 28, 2002

By 

Jason A. Miller (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drive Thru America (Paperback)

This book was recommended to me with the notion that it was about two Australians who loved American pop culture so much that they decided to drive through the United States themselves and see what it was all about. Well, that's exactly what "Drive Through America" is... a long "Simpsons" episode in which much wackiness ensues and in which, surprisingly, there are a couple of unexpectedly emotional encounters.

Author Condon claims to have quit his advertising job in early 1996, and to have used the ensuing free time to drive from New York to San Francisco the long way around. Along for the ride is friend O'Brien, who provides the illustrations and plays the laconic sidekick. Weird things happen to the pair: their rental car is struck by lightning, they travel to the deep South to return a lost bible found on a New York City subway train, and they have a gun-toting encounter on a Hollywood movie shoot.

How much of this actually happened is, of course, debatable. For a hint of what the drive through America was really like, check out the acknowledgements, which paint a different picture as to where they stayed and what they saw. So, fine, this is not a straight travelogue but mostly an extended riff on what it's like to walk into the land of all those TV sitcoms and classic movies. The pop culture jokes are all over the place, some of them quite subtle: the "Clockwork Orange" gag (relating to the serial theft of hotel TV remote controls) may have been the best part of the book for me. There's also just a smidgen of social commentary (why does Condon, in the USA, feel he has to buy a gun?).

For the most part, the jokes and the exaggerated episodes are enough to make "Drive Through America" a fast, fun read. Perhaps after this you'll want to rent your own car, find your own wise, quiet sidekick, and do it all again on your own.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I laughed out loud, May 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Drive Thru America (Paperback)

and you will too, if you've ever been to America! I've travelled to a lot of the places Sean & David did, and he brought it right back with his bang on one-liners. This book is a must for anyone homesick for American culture!