Lost Continent [Paperback]

Bill Bryson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 1999

I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to' And, as soon as Bill Bryson was old enough, he left. Des Moines couldn't hold him, but it did lure him back. After ten years in England, he returned to the land of his youth, and drove almost 14,000 miles in search of a mythical small town called Amalgam, the kind of trim and sunny place where the films of his youth were set. Instead, his search led him to Anywhere, USA; a lookalike strip of gas stations, motels and hamburger outlets populated by lookalike people with a penchant for synthetic fibres. Travelling around thirty-eight of the lower states - united only in their mind-numbingly dreary uniformity - he discovered a continent that was doubly lost; lost to itself because blighted by greed, pollution, mobile homes and television; lost to him because he had become a stranger in his own land. The Lost Continent is a classic of travel literature - hilariously, stomach-achingly funny, yet tinged with heartache - and the book that first staked Bill Bryson's claim as the most beloved writer of his generation.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A travelogue by Bill Bryson is as close to a sure thing as funny books get. The Lost Continent 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.

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, The Lost Continent 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."

Yes, Bill, but be honest: what do you really think? --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Bryson, a freelance journalist, succumbed to nostalgia upon returning home to Iowa after living for 20 years in England: he decided to relive the dreary vacation car trips of his American childhood. Starting out at his mother's house in Des Moines, he motors through 38 states over the course of two months, looking for the quintessential American small town--something he never encountered as a boy, and certainly doesn't discover now, as he tours superhighways, motels, shopping malls, fast-food joints and tourist traps. And, like a bored, bemused minor tagging along after adults, he trashes almost everything he sees, including the Smithsonian Museum and the trees in Sequoia National Park. Some of Bryson's comments are hilarious--if you enjoy the nonstop whining wisecracks of a 36-year-old kid. First serial to Cond e Nast Traveler; BOMC alternate.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 349 pages
• Publisher: Black Swan (January 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552998087
• ISBN-13: 978-0552998086
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (341 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,106,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa. For twenty years he lived in England, where he worked for the Times and the Independent, and wrote for most major British and American publications. His books include travel memoirs (Neither Here Nor There; The Lost Continent; Notes from a Small Island) and books on language (The Mother Tongue; Made in America). His account of his attempts to walk the Appalachian Trail, A Walk in the Woods, was a huge New York Times bestseller. He lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with his wife and his four children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

121 of 132 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Depressing and repetitive. Move on to his other works, May 31, 2006

By 

Ameri-Aussie (NSW) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (Paperback)

I had high hopes for this book since I thoroughly enjoyed and laughed out loud while reading Bryson's 'In a Sunburned Country'. I was more than a little disappointed after finished `Lost Continent' I came away feeling more than a little disappointed.
Before I bought this book I was puzzled at the contrasting reviews here and I initially took the most of the negative reviews with a grain of salt. I figured these were written by people who mostly just took offense way too easily and were unable to laugh at themselves as Americans. I have to say though, after reading the book I find myself agreeing with some of the negative reviews of this book.

First off, as an American that has lived overseas for 3 years now, I feel I'm more than capable of looking at America with an objective eye. I'm completely aware of America's many shortcomings - ie. the propensity for urban sprawl, the seemingly declining interest in it's rich history, the ever growing dependence on technology and increasing laziness that invariably comes with it etc. etc.

Having said that, I still regard this book primarily as just one endless, tiring, repetitive rant by an unhappy man. One would be hard pressed to find more than a couple instances where Bryson spent more than three of four sentences at a time describing anything he found ENJOYABLE. As one reviewer pointed out, Bryson comes across as being exactly like the kind of people he constantly complains about in this book...rude, ignorant, and, just like Bryson himself, overweight (apparently he hasn't stepped in front of a mirror lately). One has to wonder why someone would put out a book that is so consistently sour in tone. If I had just finished such a thoroughly unsatisfying and unhappy trek as this, I would be hard pressed to come up with a good reason (other than a quick buck perhaps) to actually write a book about it. Let me get one thing straight, if this were a book about Canada or anywhere else outside the U.S. I would feel the same way. Yes, there are a few funny passages in his book, but his air of superiority along with the overuse of metaphors pretty much dampen it at times. As demonstrated in `In a Sunburned Country', his strength lies in sharing facts and history of the places he finds himself in, and the humor is always much more engaging when it isn't over the top and written as if he's trying to impress himself.

There was a span of about 12 years between the writing of `Lost Continent' and `In a Sunburned Country', and it shows. This is a younger Bryson, a man who seems to have a problem with every little detail, and it becomes increasingly tedious and irritating as the book goes on. He rarely displays anything other than contempt for the places he finds himself in. A couple of other reviewers also made valid points when they found it curious that (with the exception of his Iowa drug buddy) he never manages to engage anyone in anything resembling a meaningful conversation to actually get a handle on their mindset (as he did in "In A Sunburned Country' for instance). His interactions with locals are mostly limited to ordering food at local restaurants and asking for directions. He seems perfectly content coming to conclusions about entire groups of people based on no real substance and communication whatsoever.

In this book, sadly, he comes across as nothing more than a sarcastic, anti-social loner with a bone to pick with just about everyone and everything. Any remotely kind words he has about anything (and they are few and far between) are all but smothered by the sour tone of the book as a whole. I SO wish I could recommend this book for others to read, but I'd be lying if I said it's time well spent.

133 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wicked humour, May 26, 2000

By 

Mike Christie (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (Paperback)

Bryson was born in Des Moines, and moved to England in his early twenties, marrying and settling down there. This book documents a trip by car around America, starting and ending in Des Moines, after many years in the UK. The ostensible theme of the book is a search for the perfect small town; a sort of Ray Bradbury idealization of fifties America. There's no such town, of course, but Bryson just uses the theme as a springboard for some of the funniest descriptions, stories, and digressions I have ever read.

When I started reading this book, I laughed so much my wife wouldn't let me read it in bed. Then she picked it up and discovered how funny it was, and wanted to read it before me. Eventually we compromised, and kept it in the car; the rule was that whoever was driving had to read it to the driver. Several times, however, the reader was laughing so hard that they couldn't get comprehensible words out, and the driver had to pull over to the hard shoulder and grab the book for themselves.

Yes, he's a curmudgeon, as other reviewers here have noticed. That's just his style. He's not deep, either; his occasional ruminations aren't negligible, but he's no Mark Twain. But he has an acidly sharp eye for inanity and stupidity, and his anecdotal technique is flawless.

His other travel books are along much the same lines, but to me this is the funniest, though "A Walk in the Woods" does show he is capable of good introspective writing. "The Lost Continent" is sharp, satirical, acute, and unkind--wickedly funny in every sense of the word.

39 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Young Bryson Can't Match the Mature, September 6, 2001

By 

Wayne A. Smith (Newark, DE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (Paperback)

This is my third Bill Bryson book. Thank goodness this was not my first, for I probably would not have picked up "In a Sunburned Country," and "A Walk In The Woods."

Where Bryson's latest books are droll, witty and endearing, "The Lost Continent" is frequently petty, forced and mean. In this book Bryson travels around 38 states in a beat up Chevette, often through small towns and out of the way places not usually visited by many. He didn't have a very good trip.

Most of this book revolves around the author's put-downs of people he sees and caustic comments about places he visits. After a few hundred pages, the observations seem awfully gratuitous. Where disappointments, angst and difficult people were treated with amusement in his later books, here he often dismisses similar trials here with the brilliant and trenchant observation "FU". Not much authorship in those moments.

Not to say that there aren't some funny passages. Several times on the train, I found myself reading out loud. However, I also found myself speed reading ahead several times, an unfortunate first for a Bryson Book. Bryson's later works also weave a good deal of interesting historical background and place descriptions into the book. That is almost totally missing in this effort.

He occasionally comes up with some awfully good writing. For example, he described driving toward the mountains in Colorado as "driving into the opening credits of a Paramount Picture." (sic). Unfortunately, there are not enough of those moments and instead too many paragraphs describing how he had another bad meal in another bad town with too many ice cream and pizza parlors and not enough ambiance or fetching waitresses to suit his tastes. Bryson has produced much better. But don't let this book (or review) put you off an author whose books can be very satisfying companions. Just go for his more recent stuff.