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Travels in Small-Town America
by Bill Bryson
An inspiring and hilarious account of one man's rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town.
Following an urge to rediscover his youth, Bill Bryson left his native Des Moines, Iowa, in a journey that would take 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. From Times Square to the Mississippi River to Williamsburg, Virginia, Bryson's keen and hilarious search for the perfect American small town is a journey straight into the heart and soul of America.
What’s the most entertaining autobiography/memoir you’ve read?
Bill Bryson's early travel memoirs are my personal favorites: "Walk in the Woods", "Notes From a Small Island", "I'm a Stranger Here Myself", "Lost Continent", and "Neither Here Nor There".
-Carol_Ann_Robb
What are you reading this week? (7/10/2025)
So glad I finally finished The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. Just started Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall for my book club meeting next week. Am really hoping it breaks me out of my reading slump.
-Lana_Maskus
Which books will you take on vacation?
...ter this week for a funeral. I hope to get William Kent Krueger's Ordinary Grace read for my book club's meeting next week. Will also be taking along The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. Whether I get them read or not is another story. My husband sometimes gets aggravated when I "bury my nose in a book" when we are traveling. I actua...
-Lana_Maskus
"Some of Bryson's comments are hilarious--if you enjoy the nonstop whining wisecracks of a 36-year-old kid." —Publishers Weekly
This information about The Lost Continent was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo © Bath & North East Somerset Council
Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He moved to England, where he worked for The Times and The Independent, and wrote for many major British and American publications.
Bill Bryson's bestselling books include A Walk in the Woods, Notes From a Small Island, In a Sunburned Country, Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, A Short of History of Nearly Everything, which earned him the 2004 Aventis Prize, and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. He was chancellor of Durham University, England's third oldest university, from 2005 to 2011, and is an honorary fellow of Britain's Royal Society. Bryson lives in England with his wife and children.
If you liked The Lost Continent, try these:
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