Books › The Lost Continent
The Lost Continent
498 pages
A hilarious, slightly grumpy road trip through the strip malls and forgotten main streets of a fading American dream.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like riding shotgun with your funniest, most observant, and slightly cynical friend on a cross-country road trip with no real destination. The pace is decidedly meandering, pulling off the highway to inspect bizarre tourist traps, forgotten diners, and endless stretches of cornfields. The mood balances on a knife-edge between sharp, laugh-out-loud mockery of American consumerism and a wistful, aching nostalgia for a mythical, perfect small town that probably never existed. The prose is conversational and effortlessly witty, delivering biting cultural critiques wrapped in self-deprecating humor. It is a perfect read for armchair travelers and anyone who appreciates a dry, curmudgeonly affection for the weird, sprawling, and deeply flawed landscape of the United States.
- Mood
- restless
- wistful
- open-road
- slightly jaded
- Tone
- wry
- cynical
- nostalgic
- curmudgeonly
- humorous
- Pace
- meandering
- Themes
- the myth of small-town America · homogenization of culture · absurdity of tourism · nostalgia and homecoming
- The writing
- Sharp, conversational, highly observant, and peppered with dry, self-deprecating wit.
- The arc
- Moves from cynical detachment and a search for a mythical perfect town to a grudging, nostalgic affection for the flawed reality of the American landscape.
- Who it's for
- Armchair travelers who enjoy dry humor and slightly grumpy but ultimately affectionate observations about American culture.
Content notes
- dated cultural observations
- mild profanity
About the book
The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America is a book by travel writer Bill Bryson, chronicling his 13,978 mile trip around the United States in the autumn of 1987 and spring 1988. It was Bryson's first travel book.
Description from Open Library.
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