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The lost continent : travels in small town America / Bill Bryson
by Bryson, Bill
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Galway, Ireland
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London : Secker & Warburg, 1989. First Edition. Hardback. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dw, now mylar-sleeved. Slightest hint of tanning to page margins. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. FLATSIGNED by the author.; 8vo 8"" - 9"" tall; 262 pages; Physical desc. : 262p. ; map (lining-papers) ; 25cm. Subject: Bryson, Bill - Travel - United States. Cities and towns - United States. Travel - Handbooks, manuals, etc. United States - Description and travel - 1981- . United States - Social life and customs - 1971- . Summary: Bill Bryson drove 14,000 miles in search of the mythical small town of his youth. Instead he found a lookalike strip of gas stations, motels and hamburger joints; a continent lost to itself through greed, pollution and television, and lost to him because he had become a foreigner in his own country. A funny and serious view of smalltown America.
Synopsis
Bill Bryson's very first travel book, a sidesplittingly funny road trip around America. "I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to." And, as soon as Bill Bryson was old enough, he left. Des Moines couldn't hold him, but it did lure him back. After ten years in England, he returned to the land of his youth and drove almost 14,000 miles in search of a mythical small town called Amalgam, the kind of trim and sunny place where the films of his youth were set. Instead, his search led him to Anywhere, USA; a lookalike strip of gas stations, motels, and hamburger outlets populated by lookalike people with a penchant for synthetic fibers. Traveling around thirty-eight of the lower states - united only in their mind-numbingly dreary uniformity - he discovered a continent that was doubly lost; lost to itself because blighted by greed, pollution, mobile homes, and television; lost to him because he had become a stranger in his own land. The Lost Continent is a classic of travel literature - hilariously, stomach-achingly funny, yet tinged with heartache - and the book that first staked Bill Bryson's claim as the most beloved writer of his generation.
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Details
- Bookseller
- MW Books Ltd.
(IE)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 179933
- Title
- The lost continent : travels in small town America / Bill Bryson
- Author
- Bryson, Bill
- Format/Binding
- Hardback
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- London : Secker & Warburg
- Date Published
- 1989
Terms of Sale
MW Books Ltd.
Returns accepted within 10 days of receipt if you are unsatisfied with either our description of, or the book itself.
About the Seller
MW Books Ltd.
Biblio member since 2005
Galway
About MW Books Ltd.
MW Books is an academic and antiquarian bookshop with a large stock in core areas such as Early Travel & Exploration, Nineteenth Century Literature, Early Political Economy, Labour and Social History, and Asian and Colonial History. Please don't hesitate to contact us with your questions or comments regarding any item listed.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Flatsigned
- A flatsigned book is signed, and not inscribed, directly on a page of the book, rather than on a bookplate or with an...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
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