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Title: Drive Thru America by Sean Condon ISBN: 0-86442-506-6 Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications Pub. Date: 01 March, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.56 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: I can't believe some people bought this for a travel guide.
Comment: I wonder if the same people who reviewed this book and complained that there was a lack of travel/city information also go to McDonalds when they feel like having a steak. If you want a travel guide, pick up a Fodors. If you want to read a hilarious account of one Australian's trek through America, then this book fits the bill. Once again, Condon is genuinely witty and manages to turn ordinary situations into amusing and interesting events. There's also a fair amount of interesting social commentary on America, but you have to read between the lines. A feat which apparently proved impossible for many people who negatively reviewed this book. Condon is for those who can appreciate and pick up on sublety, sarcasm, and an off-beat but witty sense of humor. Also for those who know not to go to McDonalds when you want a steak.
Rating: 2
Summary: Cliché Thru America
Comment: I loved Condon's third book (My 'Dam Life), so it seemed natural to pick up a copy of his account of a US cross-country road trip to read while I embarked on the same trip in reverse. Unfortunately, this earlier effort from Condon t is much more labored and stale than his account of three years living in Amsterdam. After quitting his advertising job, he and an artist friend fly from their native Australia to Canada and cross from Montreal into the US to embark on that most mythic of journeys: the cross-country road trip. Passing through places like NYC, DC, Virginia, Nashville, Mississippi, New Orleans, Texas, Santa Fe, Vegas, LA, SF, and finally flying up to Seattle, they attempt to imbibe a campy version of the American experience. The observations on America are only very occasionally insightful-most of the time Condon is too busy reworking cliché into punch line to do any real observing. The reason My 'Dam Life was so good is that Condon's scattershot one-liners are mixed into a real narrative about trying to make a new life in a foreign city. Here there is simply a choppy travel journal with joke after joke, many of which aren't that funny. There are so many aspects of America that deserve sending up, it's a shame Condon doesn't reach beyond the obvious targets. Which is not to say there aren't some really funny moments or episodes, just that they are few and far between. It also doesn't help that he draws no distinction between events that really happened on his trip, and events that he makes up partially or entirely. For the true American road experience, rent Monte Hellman's classic film Two Lane Blacktop.
Rating: 5
Summary: Seanie at his best!
Comment: Or maybe it is because the subject area is so close to my heart. Condon disproves the myth that the second book you write is the 'difficult' one.
We meet Sean and David on the plane from Australia and leave them there at the end. In between we travel through 2 countries and umpteen states with the gagster Sean and quiet, thoughtful David. I loved this book; I loved the fractured writing style and I loved the offbeat overly-descriptive descriptions of whatever caugt Condon's eye.
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Title: Sean & David's Long Drive by Sean Condon ISBN: 0864423713 Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications Pub. Date: 01 May, 1996 List Price(USD): $10.95 |
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Title: My 'Dam Life: Three Years in Holland (Lonely Planet Journeys (Travel Literature)) by Sean Condon ISBN: 0864427816 Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications Pub. Date: 01 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.99 |
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Title: There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure (Travelers' Tales Guides) by Doug Lansky ISBN: 1885211279 Publisher: Travelers' Tales Guides Pub. Date: 01 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures: Funny Women Write from the Road (Travelers' Tales) by Jennifer Leo, Jennifer L. Leo ISBN: 1885211929 Publisher: Travelers' Tales Guides Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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