Customer Reviews

Drive Thru America

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

I've read this book more than once over the years. It is one I'll dust off my bookshelf when I want something light and funny. I love Condon's sense of humor. Condon and his friend experience true Americana. They don't visit all of the most impressive and high profile places the U.S. has to offer, but rather they travel to the places you might have seen from the back of your parent's station wagon (or minivan/SUV depending on your age).

There were many vignettes I could relate to. After having visited the Hearst Castle in California, the impression I left with was not awe over the house, but instead I left thinking: "Wow, they are awfully militant around here." That was after my older aunt got chastised for chewing gum. Not chewing gum at the "castle" but chewing gum in the visitor's center miles away from the house. Reading about Condon's experience there had me in tears.

Also, after enduring numerous childhood vacations to Galveston mainly out of convenient proximity, it absolutely cracks me up that he and his friend choose to go there. And are rightly so disappointed.

Condon genuinely reveres all things tacky about the U.S., and if you can appreciate that for what it is worth, this is a fun book.

I happened upon this book five years ago when I was working at a major bookstore. I was unfortunately in the middle of a "pulldown," where I had to scan all of the books, and if my handheld scanner directed me to do so, I had to rip the cover off the book and throw it in a cardboard box. Ouch. Well, this book was slated to be pulled down, but something made me rescue it from its faceless fate. Am I ever glad I did! Chock-full of sarcasm, self-deprication, and sinus problems, this book proved to be a hilarious read. The author's sense of humor sometimes makes me laugh the same way J.D. Salinger's Holden Caufield makes me laugh: in an awkward, slightly hysterical way. Yes, for those who have read the book, I know the book contains _Catcher in the Rye_ references. At any rate, I'm not going to pretend I "get" it all... my generalized summary is that it's the story of two Australian men (firmly entrenched in generation-X and loving it) who take a drive through America, comparing and contrasting it with the pre-conceived notions their beloved pop culture has bestowed on them. But really, I don't worry too much about it. I suspend my disbelief of the goofy events and just enjoy Condon's sense of humor. I guess one analytical point I can make is this: even though Condon is saracastic and critical in some ways, you can feel his affection for America coming through. Compared to the works of the latest batch of snide young hipsters, _Drive Thru America_ is refreshing. A little bit of naughty fun without being nasty. Kudos to you, Sean!

I first read an excerpt from this book in the magazine Trips, which I can't seem to find anywhere these days. The excerpt was of the drive through northern Arizona, and I laughed and laughed. I'd remember lines from the article throughout the following days and laugh while driving to work, sitting in meetings, etc. People thought I was crazy. Then I moved from my apartment into a house, and lost the Trips magazine. I was crushed to lose what was arguably the funniest piece of literature (?) I ever read. Then, from the deepest recesses of my brain, I remembered the author's name - Sean Condon. I searched amazon.com and discovered Drive Thru America, the book my beloved Trips magazine excerpt came from. I bought it immediately - I paid for overnight shipping - stayed home from work the next day to receive the book as early as possible, and read it straight through in a few hours. I've read it probably 30 times since then, and every time it remains as hilarious, insightful and weird as the first read. Buy it - you'll like it.

Or maybe it is because the subject area is so close to my heart. Condon disproves the myth that the second book you write is the 'difficult' one.

We meet Sean and David on the plane from Australia and leave them there at the end. In between we travel through 2 countries and umpteen states with the gagster Sean and quiet, thoughtful David. I loved this book; I loved the fractured writing style and I loved the offbeat overly-descriptive descriptions of whatever caugt Condon's eye.

Great read Sean, I feel sorry for David though,America deserves a decent sarcastic view as only Australians can do, it was so much like my recent trip thru America that I thought I was in the back seat with you guys.

Great read, Buy it now. What's next Sean, I think Jolly Old England needs a taste of you two.

Seanie (yeah, yeah, don't call him that!), you've done it again. I read this book in a day (which may or may not be a reflection on the slackness with which I approach my work) and spent many moments laughing out loud (and sounding just a little insane). Sean embraces all that is American (or all that seems American, to an Australian raised on a diet of bad American TV), dissects it, and regurgitates it. You will laugh at his pathetic attempts to convince a woman in a motel that he is a TV star, and therefore worthy of getting his name on the door, and you will laugh when Leon the Neon gets struck by lightning. In fact, you'll laugh at everything. Sean and David discover real America - the one that hangs out in laundromats and sleazy bars; the one that runs gun shops (and demands 'specificks'); and the one that blends seamlessly into all of those TV shows and movies that we were forcefed as children.

Sean Condon's observations are witty and sarcastic (pardon the tautology) and his celebration of his own pathetic nature lends this book a gloriously self-deprecatory air. And the talking dog does a good cameo too.

Basically, you've just got to read it. So there.

... This is NOT a good guidebook, it is meant to share a fewlaughs, and no doubt he uses many stereotypes along the way. I laughedmy tushie off during most of the book. If you like to laugh, READ THISBOOK!...