I've read several of Bryson's books. His curmudgeonly sense of humor appeals to me. In this one, he's pretty hard on people who are fat or old, and for that reason I'd hesitate to recommend it. At least he's honest. Isn't that what the Wrong-Righters say about what's-his-name? Is being an honest bigot better than keeping the ole mouth shut on some things? He wouldn't think kindly of a race bigot, but the fat and old are somehow fair game.
I think this was written in 1987, not a banner year for me, and I hope both he and I have learned some things since that time. At this time, he lived in England, but came back to visit his mother in Iowa, borrowed her car, and spent some months driving around the country. If I did that, I'd sure pick some other spots, but it's his book. And because I'm fat and old, and female, it would be more dangerous for me, not to mention concerns about my driving.
I did laugh out loud several times. I just didn't love it as much as some of his other books. He refers to one person sarcastically as Cicero (the subject of the book I just read) and there's a part about a group of people I've been reading about in my genealogy research. ( I can't figure out if the name given to them is generally offensive, so maybe I won't include it here.) I can count on Bryson to cover a lot of ground in more ways than one, and I know I'll be reading more of his works.
No comments:
Post a Comment