The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (Bryson Book 12)

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William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, FRS was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. He settled in England in 1977, and worked in journalism until he became a full time writer. He lived for many years with his English wife and four children in North Yorkshire. He and his family then moved to New Hampshire in America for a few years, but they have now returned to live in the UK. Hardcover. Condition: Fine. First Thus. A fine copy in pictorial boards in a fine burgundy slipcase.A tight, clean copy with no markings of any kind. FIRST PRINTING, FIRST EDITION THUS. A lovely collectible quality book. The waitress, seeing how much I had left, asked me if I wanted a doggie bag. ‘No thank you,’ I said through a thin smile, ‘I don’t believe I could find a dog that would eat it.” Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth Bryson’s sense of humor also bothered me in this book. I knew he had a bit of a bite, and wasn’t afraid to call things like he saw them. I liked it when I started Bryson’s earlier memoir, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. But at times in The Lost Continent, it went to far, it made me cringe, and it made me feel bad for the people he was meeting and talking to. It was like he lost the ability to be open-minded and hit every new experience expecting to hate it. That negativity bothers me.

The Lost Continent- Bill Bryson : Scribble Maps The Lost Continent- Bill Bryson : Scribble Maps

As I always used to tell Thomas Wolfe, there are three things you just can’t do in life. You can’t beat the phone company, you can’t make a waiter see you until he’s ready to see you, and you can’t go home again.” As for the undying cynicism, well, what do you expect? The man left America to live in Britain of all places! I mean, come on, obviously he's going to find Friday night football and town hall meetings a bit trite! The polite conversation builds up to the joke, that the man has never read a Twain book yet he is at his childhood home. Bill Bryson visits Elvis Presley's birthplace in Tupelo. From there he travels to Columbus, which is close to his desired town-Amalgam. However the southern accent is too much to bear. I'm not a fan of the complaining, whingeing, swilling pleb who wrote this travel book. No, this is too harsh. But I do feel a little ripped off only because I know how interesting a Bill Bryson book can be. There's no history in this book, there's no culture, there is very little interesting stories.Eventually, mercifully, the waitress prised the spoons out of our hands and took the dessert stuff away, and we were able to stumble zombielike out into the night.” Bill Bryson was born William McGuire Bryson on 8th December 1951. He was born in Des Moines, Iowa. His birthplace was the influence for his novel The Lost Continent (1989). It is as funny as anything you'll ever read, as well as being touching, poignant and fascinating. It is the first book I've read since 'Neither Here Nor There' (also by Bryson) that has caused me to think of calling my travel agent. This book hits the sweet spot: Bill Bryson travels around Europe, entertaining us with his humor and thoughtful observations, and also sharing memories of a similar trip he took in the 1970s with his bumbling friend, Stephen Katz. I’ve decided I’m more a fan of Bryson’s later work than his early attempts. It’s been years, but as I recall, the humor in A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail and In a Sunburned Country could be classified as self-deprecating (or perhaps Katz-deprecating in the case of the former). The laughs in this book feel more mean-spirited than I expected.

Lost Continent by Bill Bryson, First Edition - AbeBooks Lost Continent by Bill Bryson, First Edition - AbeBooks

Bryson travels to the hills of Appalachia in search of the English settlers from Roanoke Island, who could be the Melungeons ( they are unique as they have fair hair anddark skin). He is unsuccessful.He begins another journey to Flagstaffbut hears the weatherman on the radio announcing snow is due. In which a bilious Bryson, returning to the U.S. after living in England, borrows his mom’s car (with her permission) and sets out to find the perfect American small town. Bryson writes of Columbus day and how it is not deserved, as he believes the Vikings discovered America. He wishes to travel to New England, which he does through the following route (also shown on map)- Connecticut (' pleasant') to Rhode Island (' microscopic') to Newport (' shabby') to Cape Cod ( 'picturesque'), until finally he reaches New England.