The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America

Author: Bill Bryson (The Mother Tongue, A Short History of Nearly Everything)

Synopsis: Nonfictional. The author returns to the States after several years away as a writer in England, and compiles his observations about small-town life.

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"I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to."

Everything you need to know about this book is contained in these first two lines: It makes fun of small towns, mercilessly but good-naturedly. The author has firsthand experience with what he's discussing. Des Moines is a crummy place to grow up.

The writing is delightful, usually falling into one of three categories - Bryson's childhood experiences in the Midwest, present-day detailed narration on areas in which he stops to explore, and (most commonly) general cracks about the nuances of everyday life in a place that no one wants to live except the people who already live there. Not merely a joke book, this reads sometimes almost as a vacation/tourist guide, covering museums and historical landmarks no matter how trite they seem to outsiders (or is that the point?). If the reader is not from a small town, or is for some reason not already enjoying the book, perhaps they can identify with the intermittent flashbacks of the author's vacationing youth with his droll, travelphilic and knowledge-hungry father, from whom he clearly gets much of his traveling [mannerisms] and spirit whether or not he wants to admit it.

Admittedly, most of the small-town jokes have been done before, but Bryson successfully revives them with freshness and wit. I was thrilled to reach the section on Ohio, my home state, and realize not only that everything he says is true, but also (surprisingly) that they are digs I hadn't heard before - or at least not from his particular standpoint. Whether or not you chalk it up to his foreign station, he does a good job with a subject that has potential to be worn out.

Like any of Bryson's books, The Lost Continent is heartily amusing and chuckle-inducing, as well as effectively researched and absolutely true.... Or maybe the reader can judge that last part for themselves.

DO READ IF: you live in a small town in America and make fun of it at every opportunity (prepare to be entertained).

DO NOT READ IF: you live in a small town in America and love it (prepare to be offended).

A Portrait of the Artist as an Old Man

Author: Joseph Heller

Edition: Scribner

Difficulty: see third paragraph below.

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From the author of Catch-22 (which admittedly, I never finished) comes a book of quite different stock.

The story takes us through the problems of an elderly acclaimed author named Eugene Pota (whose life mirrors Heller's), particularly his newfound and nearly debilitating case of writer's block, and his struggle to retain respect and relevancy in a modern world. While there are some interesting aspects of his situation to consider, they're not much fun to read about. The telling signs of weariness in the author lend a depressing air to the narration - even the title itself, a play on James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, seems a little cheap.

While I'm not very familiar with Heller's writing style, I'm not impressed from this example alone. Laden with a superfluous amount of adjectives, most of which are unnecessary and require the average reader to look up for comprehension, it's clumsy to wade through and I found my attention wandering often. Clearly the author is intelligent and has a large vocabulary, but too much of this at once is tedious for both the eyes and the brain; in the end it feels like how a stew with too many flavorful ingredients might taste.

Perhaps Portrait appeals to an older demographic than myself. Perhaps it's also more engaging specifically to writers interested in the progression of their work. (I suppose if one likes realist fiction, they could argue that the author is a compelling writer - no doubt what he details is legitimate.) But it comes off to me as an empty story that only makes the reader as tired and uninspired as its protagonist.

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DO READ IF: you're a fan of Catch-22..... (I guess...)

DO NOT READ IF: you have anything better to do.

The Wayward Bus

Author: John Steinbeck

Edition: Bantam, the classic first-edition printing of most of Steinbeck's novels. (This particular copy was published in 1957, and judging by the cover price of 35 cents, I imagine it's probably out of print.)

Synopsis: A small-frame novelette examining the personalities and hidden motives of a group of bus passengers and how they interact, with unexpected results.

Length: quite manageable, at just over 100 pages.

Difficulty: easy

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"It was a small bus, an old bus. It traveled the back roads through the lush California countryside. Is driver was a man of the land -- lusty, warm, uninhibited.
"On the bus were a girl who danced at stag parties, a traveling salesman out strictly for laughs, a boy with the sweet sap of young manhood urgent in him, a college girl who had studied her body more than her books."

These words taken from the back cover hardly do the book credit. In fact, they're pretty unfair, because there's a lot more to the story.

However, one of the central themes is that of a young girl and her beauty. She views it as a curse at times, and also a blessing as she manipulates people -- especially men -- accordingly. With each chapter we see how she uses her looks to influence people, and how the attitudes of the other passengers in the bus shift as a result of her presence.

The first half of the novel introduces and develops the characters. There are the Chicoys, a down-to-earth Mexican couple; Pimples, the shy, lustful hired hand; three restless and attractive young women; as well as a light-hearted salesman, a jaded pessimist, and a sickly elderly man. In typical Steinbeck fashion, everything begins innocently enough, but soon the tension builds as everyone's personalities come to light. The second half of the book, which easily could have been scripted into a one-act play, pictures the characters all coming together for a long journey on a bus -- a space far too enclosing to avoid the threatening conflict that was already brewing from the outset.

The lone chapter devoted to Alice's story (Chapter 11) is remarkable. An intense look at a struggling alcoholic woman and her mental demise, it could stand alone as a gripping character study. I was hooked from the first page to the last. Watch also for the symbolism of the fly -- some of the most incredible imagery I've seen from this author.

The Wayward Bus is an obscure gem that any Steinbeck lover should read.