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The Lost Continent
by Bill Bryson
In 1990 I bought my copy of The Lost Continent by one Bill Bryson.
The author announces on the first page that he is from Des Moines; indeed he continues to allude to his Iowa roots with self-deprecatory amusement that seemed, to my limited experience to be not typically American. He had, by then, as I subsequently discovered, been living in Britain for a dozen or more years, but that sense of humour is clearly more deep-seated than a change of residence could explain.
A hilarious travel log of a late-twentieth century circumnavigation of the U.S., it includes memorable visits to Gettysburg and a Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant that still leave me helpless with laughter.But there are countless careful and astute observations which underlie the boisterous humour; a sort of latter-day Steinbeck without the anger. Actually it wasn't till I read Travels with Charley that I realised how much Bill Bryson owes to the great man.
In 2003 Bryson returned the compliment to his adopted home (Notes from a Small Island) having swapped the quintessential American farm state for its English equivalent, Norfolk.
The balance between humour and erudition shifts slightly in his later works (Mother Tongue, A Short History of nearly Everything) but a continuing lightness of touch helps to engage with the content. Like Steinbeck, his style has spawned numerous (mostly very inferior) imitations but retains the deep sense of natural justice. As well as being hilariously funny.
Sam K. from England
Iowa Map 34" x 49" $50 Laminated $30 Plain
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