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The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America
by Bill Bryson

Published: 2001-05-15
Paperback : 320 pages
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An unsparing and hilarious account of one man's rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small ...

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Introduction

An unsparing and hilarious account of one man's rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town.

Editorial 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?

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  "A road trip through middle America"by Kerri F. (see profile) 09/11/08

This was pure Bill Bryson... wry, comic and dry. I love his writing. I have to say that "A Walk in the Woods" was better, but "THe Lost Continent" made me laugh out loud several times. So... (read more)

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