The Lost Continent

· BBC Digital Audio · Narrated by Kerry Shale
4.6
9 reviews
Audiobook
2 hr 18 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

In an ageing Chevrolet Chevette, he drove nearly 14,000 miles through 38 states to compile this hilarious and perceptive state-of-the-nation report on small-town America.

From the Deep South to the Wild West, from Elvis' birthplace through to Custer's Last Stand, Bryson
visits places he re-named Dullard, Coma, and Doldrum (so the residents don't sue or come after him with baseball bats). But his hopes of finding the American dream end in a nightmare of greed, ignorance, and pollution. This is a wickedly witty and savagely funny assessment of a country lost to itself, and to him.

Travel through small-town America with Kerry Shale's popular BBC Radio 4 reading of Bill Bryson's comic travelogue.

Ratings and reviews

4.6
9 reviews
Buster Foyt
June 24, 2020
disappointed it was not bill himself, no wonder it was so cheap. the guy races though the text, and is a little too proud of his accentual skills. should have studied the master himself
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Anna Hegenberg
February 24, 2023
Very funny. Near every sentence has something funny in it. I chuckled a lot and laughed loud a few times. And: oh boy, do I not want to visit that place! Thank you for writing this!
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About the author

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. His bestselling books include The Road to Little Dribbling, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, One Summer and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. In a national poll, Notes from a Small Island was voted the book that best represents Britain. His acclaimed work of popular science, A Short History of Nearly Everything, won the Aventis Prize and the Descartes Prize, and was the biggest selling non-fiction book of its decade in the UK. His new book The Body: A Guide for Occupants is an extraordinary exploration of the human body which will have you marvelling at the form you occupy.
Bill Bryson was Chancellor of Durham University 2005–2011. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society. He lives in England.

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