Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe

The first time Bill Bryson travelled around Europe was in 1972, when everyone on the flight from America was a hippy and his seatmate asked him if he had found Jesus ("Uh, no, it's a quarter", responds Bryson, retrieving a coin from the floor). The following year he returns in the company of his friend Katz - "the best thing that could be said for travelling abroad with Katz was that it spared the rest of America from having to spend the summer with him".

Neither Here Nor There is mainly about an extensive journey through Europe twenty years later, from Hammerfest where he waits sixteen days to witness the Northern Lights, to Istanbul; where he decides it's time to return home after his wife informs him his chidren are addressing all grown men as daddy. There are also reminiscences back to the Katz journey, which are some of the funniest pages in the book.

This is a real "traveller's book", with all the tedium, grotty hotel rooms, communication problems, unidentifiable food and frustrations. It is also brilliant at seeing the hilarious side of these - often using gross exaggeration and frequently very crude; but although dated there are very few books that have made me chortle so long and so loud.

the ugly american (3/4 people found this helpful)

As an american expat living in Italy for the last 9 years, I found this book extremely difficult to read. If you want to actually learn something about Europe, do NOT read this book. If you want to read about Bill's eternal problems in finding a hotel that doesn't suck and a decent meal, okay go ahead, but I don't find that particularly interesting. On top of being boring, this book is incredibly venomous and mean-spirited. Basically everyone comes under attack as Bill trots out every road-weary stereotype we've heard a million times before, the french are rude, the swiss are precise, the italians are disorganised. Blah Blah Blah. What a yawn. And let me stress that I read previously another Bryson book that I quite enjoyed, so I wasn't coming at this with some chip on my shoulder.

Loved it!!. (2/6 people found this helpful)

This book is a influential look at Europe from an American writers [Bill Bryson] eye-view: how Europeans treat an American, see an American - and how an American sees Europe.
It is written in Brysons rich, Funny and intelligent style...oh! what can i say...i listened to the [Beach Boys] when reading the book, and now when i listen to the Beach boys - i crave to be reading another Bryson book...i'm just gonna buy all the ones i haven't read yet and read them one after the other.
Read this book!.It's fantastic and some of the stories made me laugh for hours after reading them...and i still laugh when i think about them to this day...highly recommended!!.

One of the better Brysons (3/7 people found this helpful)

I laughed out loud reading this - on the bus, in bed, all sorts of places. What more do you want from this sort of thing?

Bizarrely annoying book.... (5/12 people found this helpful)

Having recently read Bill Bryson's Down Under, which (being Australian) I very much enjoyed, I thought I would purchase his 'Neither Here Nor There' travels in Europe. I found the book frustrating as he was obviously deliberatly putting himself into ridiculous situations by not planning ahead at all (presumably to get a 'funny' story out of his 'tribulations'). Bill is not a 17 year old backpacker, so his "tribulations" were actually annoying. I skim read the last two thirds of the book. I also think the negativity he at least appears to have for Europe was quite off-putting for me and unnecessary. Not a good read, not enjoyable, not funny and not even informative. Unfortunately at the same time that I purchased this book I also purchased his travels on a small island (UK) book. Hmmm... that one might sit on my bookshelf for a while until I am really really really bored....

Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe

Bill Bryson

Reader Reviews:

Extremely funny (1/1 people found this helpful)

the ugly american (3/4 people found this helpful)

Loved it!!. (2/6 people found this helpful)

One of the better Brysons (3/7 people found this helpful)

Bizarrely annoying book.... (5/12 people found this helpful)

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