Last fall, as a 21 year-old college student in his final year, I started pondering what to do with that ludicrous accumulation of wealth that all university students find upon graduation. Lies, actually: I scraped together the best I could and bought a ticket for London. A pair of "Let's Go" guides accompanied me for practical reasons, but Neither Here Nor There was my travel bible, my Psalms, as it were. I read it that Fall of '07 and it inspired me to take the trip in ways that no other source had. It revealed to me that even travel hardships can result in the most absurdly funny, cherished stories.

His ascerbic wit goes gangbusters on the little quirks of the Continental, from country to hilarious country. I partially molded my trip to make sure I checked out some of his destinations--they were that well-described.

Interestingly enough, I found him to be dead-on in some countries/cities, and WAY off the mark in others. One of his most memorable anecdotes comes out of backwoods Austria. I happened to find the same people to be the kindest, most hospitable of my whole 14-country trip. But the laughs I had over that chapter, and the inspiration to camp out under the Tyrolean night sky, paid dividends. So what if his descriptions aren't cookie-cutter and unfailing? No two travel experiences are the same, and God forbid they ever will be.

Read this book. You'll shoot (insert beverage here) through your nose laughing and develop an ache to see Europe. Prost, Bill.

Bill Bryson has written so many hilarious books that it's hard to say which is the funniest, but when I meet someone who is new to Bryson's work, again and again I find myself recommending this one.

The one-liners ("Italians park as if they've just spilled a beaker of hydrocloric acid in their laps") are funny no matter how well-travelled (or non-travelled) you are, and the prose is so descriptive and wonderful that you learn as you go along.

As far as I'm concerned Bill Bryson is the finest non-fiction writer of our time.

Reading Neither Here Nor There made me think that I won't die happy if I don't get to see Capri, and I determined that there were several other cities I don't ever wish to visit. I also learned that a certain brand of travelers' checks is terrible, and I won't be using them in this lifetime.

It is interesting to read this book in it's Communist-era, pre-Euro context. Empty shops in Bulgaria and discussion of purchasing things with dinars and schillings was very interesting. Unfortunately, reading the book even as I did, spreading the chapters out over several days, I still got that "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium" feeling. I began to lose track of where Bill saw the beautiful sunset, or where his pocket was picked.

I was also disappointed by Bryson's alarming views towards animals and cavalier comments about hating them and wanting them killed. Dogs hate him, and this fact has provided much humor in his writing over the years, but the tangents he went on regarding his loathing of companion animals were over the top and distinctly unfunny. So was his anti-Arabic rant during one of his many visits to queues for financial situations. I may be more sensitive to such things in light of recent world events, as comments about the guttural nature of German language or the expense of traveling in Switzerland didn't bother me, but this did.

The funniest anecdotes were the ones Bryson shared about his previous travels through Europe with his friend Katz. Katz provided a hugely politically-incorrect thread of humor in the book, and at times I thought he would have made a more interesting traveling companion. Heresy, I know.

All in all, I'm very glad I read the book, and I got many laughs out of it, but it was no Walk in the Woods.

I really enjoy Bill's relaxed style in his travels. He doesn't edit out the less complimentary aspects of his travels or of his own personality. Europe has such a rich history and varied cultures as well as climates are a treat as background for his dialogue. This is my 3rd Bryson read and thus far my favorite.

Bryson brings his characteristic humor to his explorations of Europe. While his observations can sometimes be a bit mean-spirited, he also pokes fun at himself, and many of his observations are quite funny, if clearly exaggerated. Starting in the artic north of Norway, and continuing in a zigzag pattern across the continent, Bryson explores many of the most famous of Europe's cities, as well as some more obscure locals. While he notes the changes in Sofia that occurred after his visit, his descriptions of Yugoslavia are even more dated (starting with the fact that Yugoslavia doesn't exist anymore!). Fans of Bryson's humor won't be disappointed, but if you're looking for a guide to traveling in Europe, this probably won't be your best resource.

Neither Here Nor There is probably more for the novice than the experienced traveller, but it is entertaining and has a usefully broad scope. Bill Bryson, an American resident in London, takes his readers from the Arctic Circle to Istanbul in something like a couple of months, mixing in parts of Scandinavia, the Benelux, France, Germany and Italy among others before passing through the Balkans.

Inevitably a lot is about finding hotels and places to eat, misplaced reservations and the pitfalls of communicating with strangers. This is travel writing, after all. And inevitably there tends to be quite a few clichés and national stereotyping. The commentary ranges from insightful (e.g. different perceptions of Amsterdam) to expected but fun (the police episode in Florence), to downright vulgar ("Quick restaurants - as in quick, pass the bucket!"). I found the first and last chapters, set in northern Norway, then Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, the most interesting. Bryson has more to say in out-of-the-way settings. And having travelled to the latter two at about the same time, I thought his observations both original and to the point. Nor does the book, written in the early 1990s, generally feel out-of-date.

Bryson's style combines a wide descriptive vocabulary with a matter-of-fact, colloquial tone. It drips with irony and evinces plenty of sniggers. The same note is held too long, though, which may explain why one doesn't laugh as much as one would expect: the jokes and witticisms eventually lose an essential element of surprise.

Perhaps not unusually for the genre, the book ends up saying as much about the observer as the observed. It provides a snapshot of how an educated and informed American views the European continent.

Bill Bryson is so right on with the quirks of Europe. It's a great read for those who've traveled there, because he can take you back to those moments and make you laugh. I recommend to my friends who haven't been there to let them know how Europe really is. Even after being to Europe and reading his book, I'm still going back there on Vacation !!!

In this book, Bill Bryson embarks on the grown-up version of backpacking across Europe. Having wandered Europe twenty years previously with a friend named Katz, he revisited some places and observes how they have changed.

Bryson has the idea of starting at Hammerfest, in far northern Norway, and then working his way south to Rome. Because he wants to see the northern lights, his journeys begin in winter, when the Arctic is still dark and, of course, cold. The northern lights don't appear to him for a couple of weeks, so the book begins at a leisurely pace, with Bryson hanging out in a dark, cold city where there really isn't much for a tourist to do.

Moving south from Hammerfest gives Bryson many cold, rainy days in Copenhagen and Stockholm before he can't take it any more and goes to Italy. From there he hops from one city to another, ending in Sofia, Bulgaria. His slower pace in the first part of the book gave him many opportunities to talk about the people in each place; in Italy, his observations tend to focus on the physical plant instead. When he gets to Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, however, his observations tun personal again.

Oddly enough, Bryson's most pithy observations are about the people but he doesn't spend much time meeting them. He comes across as a loner who is happiest wandering the streets of an unfamiliar city, visiting the museums, and then having a large number of beers at the end of the day. That strategy means that he risks making unfamiliar generalizations about the people around him, so it's remarkable that his observations don't necessarily jibe with the stereotypes. However, he doesn't pass up a stereotype if he can make a good joke.

Bryson is at his best when on the road less-traveled, from Hammerfest to Sofia, and he doesn't have much to say about the Romes of the world. He's a gifted writer, and it's a pleasure to accompany him.

A hilarious madcap ride through Europe. Bill Bryson always makes me laugh out loud. Don't miss the chapters on France and Belgium; they are priceless, especially if you have ever spent any time in those countries. This book is a must-read for all those with wanderlust and a sense of humor.

I really did laugh out loud at times. Bryson tells of travels in Europe both of recent times and flashbacks to a trip through Europe when he was younger. I especially enjoyed the parts on places of Europe that I have visited myself. I was a little disappointed there wasn't much time spent in Germany. In this book, Bryson seems to try and get laughs at the expense of people. I had to knock off a star for that.

I read this book shortly after my study abroad trip to Rome. I found Bryson to be very humorous and laughed out loud numerous times. I enjoyed the book while i read it in about 3 days flat.

My only issues when getting further along was when he obviously began to be homesick. He would pick on each location and pick apart what problems they had and complain about it. After a while he just became cranky and made you almost want to quit reading the book. He rushed through his trip near the end and it was sloppy.

Although a good amount of what he said still applies today, but this book is out of date to read about current Europe. He took this trip back in 1990. It's been 17 years and I would not use this book to accurately give a feel for each city visited.

I still more or less enjoyed the book and would read just to refresh myself on my own memories of Europe and to have a good chuckle.

Bill is a good writer, but genius should be reserved for writers like Thomas Sowell, Marc Steyn, Shelby Steele, Dan Pipes, Victor Davis Hanson, etc. No, I don't expect everyone, sadly, to have read works by these brilliant men, of course.

But anyway, a guy like Bryson, being paid to travel around Eurabia and mock people, offering his insight, should be able to produce good copy. I'd like to see more people write about the decadence, hedonism and secularism that is fueling Eurabia's rapid demise though. I know it won't be any Euros, as they cater to Islam, ignore evil, and spew hatred at the Jews just like in 1939, so hopefully more Americans will.
Off tangent? Nope. Poking fun at Eurabia is different than being brutally honest. Travel books about this barbaric country where six million Jews were exterminated in unappealing.
But yeah, while he's not a genius, you can call him acerbic, or, like the "great" John Stewart," "witty."

This was my first Bill Bryson book and I can still remember riding the subway to work and errupting in fits of frenzied laughter as dour faced clerks and bankers peered disapprovingly at me over their morning newspapers. If you happened to be one of those people, I apologize. I couldn't help myself.

With NEITHER HERE NOR THERE you are not going to get a comprehensive travel guide to Europe filled with effusive descriptions or ponderous sentences like, 'Politically, as well as socially, Sweden is now at a crossroads.' Rather, what you will get is an irreverant account of comedian-philosopher Bill Bryson country hopping about the world's most refined continent with no real purpose, point, or plan. And yet it works. From encounters to non-English speaking Swedes to a flashback of a run in with some beer swilling Austrians, this small volume makes for some great escapism. And between the jokes, there's some fine writing. The writer's description of his experience in Norway, for example, was very good. Please note that this book wasn't meant to be taken so seriously. Its title should tell you that.

Troy Parfitt, author of Notes from the Other China - Adventures in Asia

This is my third Bryson book, and so far so good. The AT book was a bit better, and the Short History was a bit broader, but so far they all follow a simple but successful format. Bryson goes somewhere, observes and then writes about it. The writing is not usually laugh out loud funny, but it has enough funny moments and humorous observations that when these are combined with the interesting facts tossed out by Bryson that you end up feeling that you got your money's worth.

Neither Here nor There starts with his second (major) trip to mainland Europe (he lived in semi-Europe, that is, England, for seventeen years) and he starts with an epic bus trip to view the northern lights in the Nome of Norway. At least I think it was Norway, it was some non-descript Scandinavian country. In any case he captures well the feeling of being on the edge of nowhere in a community so bland it makes your last Young Republican rally seem like the Watts riots. He alternates between being wryly bemused and clinically depressed, but weaves it all together when he finally does get to see the lights, in all their glory.

The wry bemusement versus clinical depression seems to be a common theme of the book, if not his life, and it helps you kind of root for him as he goes gallivanting like a trust fund baby through all of Europe. Italy, Germany, Yugoslavia, Belgium, even Liechtenstein- he doesn't miss much. I think Spain and Greece got bypassed somehow, but pretty much everywhere else he hit. Even a brief hangout time at pre-war Bosnia, a bit surreal.

I really don't find any great weakness in the book, other than there is no traveling partner of any kind to give dimension. Some of the better bits are his reminisces, if they can be called that, of his earlier trip with his friend Katz. Katz is a character, to say the least, with all the in-your-face-humanity of a Homer Simpson without the FCC to keep him in check. He should've tried to get old Katz out of by-gosh Iowa for one more trek of the Old Country. We do get to run into him again in the Appalachians in another Bryson book, but Europe would've benefited by him, too, in my opinion.

I've only ever been to Austria (which he slams a bit) and Switzerland which he also slams a bit, but from my limited experience his observations seemed to be at least in the ballpark. Switzerland is very expensive (sehr teuer) and Austria is full of Austrians and both are full of beautiful mountains. And if you don't like German it doesn't matter- everybody speaks English, most likely as well as you do.

This is my third Bryson book, and so far so good. The AT book was a bit better, and the Short History was a bit broader, but so far they all follow a simple but successful format. Bryson goes somewhere, observes and then writes about it. The writing is not usually laugh out loud funny, but it has enough funny moments and humorous observations that when combined with the interesting facts the reader picks up that you finish the book feeling you got your money's worth.

Neither Here nor There starts with his second (major) trip to mainland Europe (he lived in semi-Europe, that is, England, for seventeen years) and he starts with an epic bus trip to view the northern lights in the Nome of Norway. At least I think it was Norway, some non-descript Scandinavian country. In any case he captures well the feeling of being on the edge of nowhere in a culture so bland it makes your last Young Republican rally seem like the Watts riots. He alternates between being wryly bemused and clinically depressed, but weaves it altogether when he finally does get to see the lights, in all their glory.

The wry bemusement versus clinical depression seems to be a common theme of the book, if not his life, and it helps you root for him as he goes gallivanting about like a trust fund baby through all of Europe. Italy, Germany, Yugoslavia, Belgium, even Lichtenstein- he doesn't miss much. I think Spain and Greece got bypassed some how, but pretty much everywhere else was hit. Even a brief hangout time at pre-war Bosnia, a bit surreal.

I really don't find any great weakness in the book, other than there is no traveling partner of any kind to give dimension. Some of the better bits are his reminisces, if they can be called that, of his earlier trip with his friend Katz. Katz is a character, to say the least, with all the in-your-face-humanity of a Homer Simpson without the FCC to keep him in check. He should've tried to get old Katz out of by-gosh Iowa for one more trek of the Old Country. We do get to run into him again in the Appalachians, but Europe would've benefited by him, too, in my opinion.

I've only ever been to Austria (which he slams a bit) and Switzerland which he also slams a bit, but from my limited experience his observations seemed to be at least in the ballpark. Switzerland is very expensive (sehr teuer)and Austria is full of Austrians and both are full of beautiful mountains. And if you don't like German it doesn't matter- everybody speaks English, most likely as well as you do.

Bill Bryson's humor is, as always, top-flight. One reviewer mentioned a series of jokes that he found "tiring" ... personally I found the caricatures very funny. Of course Bryson's comments are generalizations, many of them over-generalizations for humor's sake, many of them are grossly inaccurate I am sure. But the reality is that we *all* generalize, and while I understand the European point of view, I would ask the critics of this book who cry xenophobia to think about all of the over-generalizations Europeans have of America and Americans. But hey, we're all entitled to our own opinion, and humor perhaps more than anything is something that is lost in translation. I don't think the European audience is the one Bryson is targeting anyway, and I'm sure there exist many books in Europe that lampoon America to a degree that most Americans would similarly take offense at. C'est la vie.

While the humor itself rates 5 stars, the "travel" part is 3~4 stars at best. I do agree with the critics that note Bryson's somewhat formulaic style becomes a little weary after a while, and aside from the funny stories and interludes, Bryson's travels are actually on the dull side. In many ways, it felt like a sequel that was a watered down version of the original--I wondered if Bryson wouldn't have been better off writing about just his *original* youthful travels around Europe with Katz instead of this version we had--Europe: Part Deux. Bryson himself seemed to lose interest in his own travels around Italy, and often it felt like he was more interested to leave the last town than to enter the next one. By Istanbul, Bryson was clearly just going through the motions. Bryson's general lack of attachment to these places keeps the reader at arm's length as well.

In the end, I think the reader's opinion of this book will depend on how the humor is received. If you don't find it funny, this book will be a miserable read. For me, and I believe most people, the humor is hilarious enough and the flashbacks are interesting enough to carry the reader's interest from beginning to end. Still, I agree with those who say it does not match the level of Bryson's other works. The style remains but this book is missing a bit of the soul that makes Bryson's works such interesting and entertaining reads.

Bill Bryson's humor is, as always, top-flight. One reviewer mentioned a series of jokes that he found "tiring" ... personally I found the caricatures very funny. Of course Bryson's comments are generalizations, many of them over-generalizations for humor's sake, many of them are grossly inaccurate I am sure. But the reality is that we *all* generalize, and while I understand the European point of view, I would ask the critics of this book who cry xenophobia to think about all of the over-generalizations Europeans have of America and Americans. But hey, we're all entitled to our own opinion, and humor perhaps more than anything is something that is lost in translation. I don't think the European audience is the one Bryson is targeting anyway, and I'm sure there exist many books in Europe that lampoon America to a degree that most Americans would similarly take offense at. C'est la vie.

While the humor itself rates 5 stars, the "travel" part is 3~4 stars at best. I do agree with the critics that note Bryson's somewhat formulaic style becomes a little weary after a while, and aside from the funny stories and interludes, Bryson's travels are actually on the dull side. In many ways, it felt a bit like a semi-successful sequel--I wondered if Bryson wouldn't have been better off writing about just his *original* youthful travels around Europe with Katz instead of this version we had--Europe: Part Deux. Bryson himself seemed to lose interest in his own travels around Italy, and often it felt like he was more interested to leave the last town than to enter the next one. By Istanbul, Bryson was clearly just going through the motions. Bryson's general lack of attachment to these places keeps the reader at arm's length as well.

In the end, I think the reader's opinion of this book will depend on how the humor is received. If you don't find it funny, this book will be a miserable read. For me, and I believe most people, the humor is hilarious enough and the flashbacks are interesting enough to carry the reader's interest from beginning to end. Still, I agree with those who say it does not match the level of Bryson's other works. The style remains but this book is missing a bit of the soul that makes Bryson's works such interesting and entertaining reads.

It helps to already be a Bryson fan, but if you are new to the joys of reading his books, settle in, and enjoy. Bryson has been an outsider himself, having lived in England for many years. He moved back to the USA after two decades, tried it for a while, and moved back to England. He knows about being a stranger in a strange land. When he makes observation on the eccentricities, endearing qualities, advantages, and frustrating foibles of the places he visits (including those in the USA), he does it with humor, intelligence, a satirical bent, a very precise eye,insight--and did I say, humor? You will laugh out loud at least once. The paperback is inexpensive, the enjoyment immense.

An account of the author's rambles across Europe. Bryson is always entertaining, and his writing alternates from downright hilarious to the point of absurdity to dealing with some very sobering statistics. This is a wonderful mix and he's a very gifted writer whose works sound like a really great story you once heard from a friend.

Having been in a few places in Europe, I can relate to what Bill Bryson is talking about. But if I had never been, I still could relate. His humour, the way he has of connecting past musings with his present surroundings is skillful and funny. I sit by myself and giggle at the way he takes a thought and stretches it like PlaDoh into a ridiculous mental play with him playing the star fool. He does not spare himself and he does not disappoint. We are entirely there with him. A wonderful read.

I have enjoyed several of Bryson's books in the past so finally got around to this tour of Europe; I'm sorry I did. This is like one man's mid-life crisis dream of re-living an adolescent fantasy journey, with little real thought about the people in the places he visits. Sources for drink--often LOTS of drink--and the occasional museum are the primary focus of his entire journey, and the xenophobic comments that pass for humor here get very old very quickly.

Probably the saddest part of the entire book was being reminded that less than 20 years ago, he could visit Sarajevo and watch families playing quietly in a park. For anyone like me who is just now considering reading this, don't. There are far better, more current travel books and far better Bryson books out there, so do yourself a favor and skip this one.

I have enjoyed several of Bryson's books in the past so finally got around to this tour of Europe; I'm sorry I did. This is like one man's mid-life crisis dream of re-living an adolescent fantasy journey, with little real thought about the people in the places he visits. Sources for drink--often LOTS of drink--and the occasional museum are the primary focus of his entire journey, and the xenophobic comments that pass for humor here get very old very quickly.

Probably the saddest part of the entire book was being reminded that less than 20 years ago, he could visit Sarajevo and watch families playing quietly in a park. For anyone like me who is just now considering reading this, don't. There are far better, more current travel books and far better Bryson books out there, so do yourself a favor and skip this one.

While Bryson does offer some historical context for the places he travels (especially in relation to WW II), whether you like this book or not depends far more on your sense of humor. There's very little dialogue and almost no social interaction outside of Bryson dealing with travel logistics- getting bus tickets, checking into hotels, ordering dinner. Personally, though, his dry/goofball/neurotic sense of humor made me laugh out loud time after time, and I found myself more surprised during short passages where he was relatively serious than the relentless humor. Only if you're obsessed with political correctness, he may offend you, but he is democratic in his targets, and even pokes fun at himself (for example, describing his temper tantrum in Sweden after having to pay for a failed phone call).

Some specific examples include him describing the cow as the perfect pet, a slapstick scene involving the meatballs rolling out of his sandwich ("like sailors abandoning a burning ship"), a woman on the train who "looked as if she hadn't smiled since 1937 and who spent the entire journey watching me as if she had seen my face on a wanted poster", and another train ride when he was "spreading out the map on my knees in its full crinkly glory, to the undisguised irritation of the old lady next to me, who hoomphed her bosom and made exasperated noises every time a corner of paper waggled in her direction."

While Bryson does offer some historical context for the places he travels (especially in relation to WW II), whether you like this book or not depends far more on your sense of humor. There's very little dialogue and almost no social interaction outside of Bryson dealing with travel logistics- getting bus tickets, checking into hotels, ordering dinner. Personally, though, his dry/goofball/neurotic sense of humor made me laugh out loud time after time, and I found myself more surprised during short passages where he was relatively serious than the relentless humor. Only if you're obsessed with political correctness, he may offend you, but he is democratic in his targets, and even pokes fun at himself (for example, describing his temper tantrum in Sweden after having to pay for a failed phone call).

Some specific examples include him describing the cow as the perfect pet, a slapstick scene involving the meatballs rolling out of his sandwich ("like sailors abandoning a burning ship"), a woman on the train who "looked as if she hadn't smiled since 1937 and who spent the entire journey watching me as if she had seen my face on a wanted poster", and another train ride when he was "spreading out the map on my knees in its full crinkly glory, to the undisguised irritation of the old lady next to me, who hoomphed her bosom and made exasperated noises every time a corner of paper waggled in her direction."

Someone once said that you can fake intelligence, but you can't fake wit.
Maybe that's why there are so many books...but so few funny ones.
I for one think the world needs a lot more funny books.
I sometimes get sick of reading analytical nonfiction, sick of reading serious descriptive prose, sick of the things I read always demanding something from me, whether its my earnest attention or my logic and reasoning.
Sometimes, I just want to read something that will make me laugh.
That's when I'm grateful for Bill Bryson.
This guy is hilarious.
Forget how cranky and irritable his writing makes him seem, forget his biases, forget that the subjects of his books sometimes seem like little more than loose structures built solely to be ornamented by jokes, forget that his book jackets always mention that he's one of Newsweek's celebrated "boomers," forget all that.
Instead, just read his work, and take careful note at the number of times you have trouble breathing due to how hard you're laughing, at the number of times someone asks you if you're okay because they're not quite sure if you--you with the book over there--are laughing or sobbing, at the number of times you almost wake up the sleeping person next to you with your uncontrollable guffawing.
This book has little more going in the way of plot than the loose story of Bill Bryson traveling aimlessly around Europe, but it is funny. Hilarious.
If you have any sense of humor at all, you will laugh at it, I can almost guarantee it.

Someone once said that you can fake intelligence, but you can't fake wit.
Maybe that's why there are so many books...but so few funny ones.
I for one think the world needs a lot more funny books.
I sometimes get sick of reading analytical nonfiction, sick of reading serious descriptive prose, sick of the things I read always demanding something from me, whether its my earnest attention or my logic and reasoning.
Sometimes, I just want to read something that will make laugh.
That's when I'm grateful for Bill Bryson.
This guy is hilarious.
Forget how cranky and irritable his writing makes him seem, forget his biases, forget that the subjects of his books sometimes seem like little more than loose structures built solely to be ornamented by jokes, forget that his book jackets always mention that he's one of Newsweek's celebrated "boomers," forget all that.
Instead, just read his work, and take careful note at the number of times you have trouble breathing due to how hard you're laughing, at the number of times someone asks you if you're okay because they're not quite sure if you--you with the book over there--are laughing or sobbing, at the number of times you almost wake up the sleeping person next to you with your uncontrollable guffawing.
This book has little more going in the way of plot than the loose story of Bill Bryson traveling aimlessly around Europe, but it is funny. Hilarious.
If you have any sense of humor at all, you will laugh at it, I can almost guarantee it.

Someone once said that you fake intelligence, but you can't fake wit.
Maybe that's why there are so many books...but so few funny ones.
I for one think the world needs a lot more funny books.
I sometimes get sick of reading analytical nonfiction, sick of reading serious descriptive prose, sick of the things I read always demanding something from me, whether its my earnest attention or my powers of logic and reasoning.
Sometimes, I just want to read something that will make laugh.
That's when I'm grateful for Bill Bryson.
This guy is hilarious.
Forget how cranky and irritable his writing makes him seem, forget his biases, forget that the subjects of his books sometimes seem like little more than loose structures built solely to be ornamented by jokes, forget that his book jackets always mention that he's one of Newsweek's celebrated "boomers," forget all that.
Instead, just read his work, and take careful note at the number of times you have trouble breathing due to how hard you're laughing, at the number of times someone asks you if you're okay because they're not quite sure if you--you with the book over there--are laughing or sobbing, at the number of times you almost wake up the sleeping person next to you with your uncontrollable belly laughing.
This book has little more going in the way of plot than the loose story of Bill Bryson traveling aimlessly around Europe, but it is funny. Hilarious.
If you have any sense of humor at all, you will laugh at it, I can almost guarantee it.

We're planning a trip to Europe and this book gives a lot of information you don't get from a travel guide, and it's all done with a lot of humour. This is great reading even if you don't want to pick up those quirkly tips.

After reading "A short History of Nearly everything", and as a travel-lover, I decided to buy this book from Bill Bryson.
I have to say that after reading it it left me a bittersweet sensation. On the one side it is quite funny, specially the first part of the book. However, on the other hand it is too much topic based and many times the author exagerates too much about things.
On the whole, funny, but a bit out of date and at some points too biased from today's Europe.

I like Bill Bryson's writing. He is informative but also has a sense of humor, which I find refreshing.

In the early 1970s, when he was twenty, Bryson left Iowa for a summer of wandering around Europe. He enjoyed it so much, he did it again the next summer. Then he actually moved to England and took up residence in his career as a journalist, though he somehow didn't manage to see much more of the Continent. Twenty years after his first wanderjahr, he had a hankering to do it yet again, hitting as many of the original sights as possible, just to compare notes with his earlier self. The result is a sometimes witty, sometimes annoying tale of a middle-aged monolingual man's impressions of what happened to the Europe he first fell in love with, but which was discovered by American capitalism in the interim. Starting in Hammerfest, the northernmost town in Europe (he wanted to view the northern lights), he makes his way in fits and starts through Scandinavia in the early Spring (which he doesn't much like), Paris (which he loves though he doesn't much care for the people who actually live there), the Low Countries (Amsterdam isn't what it was), back to Copenhagen and Stockholm (mostly expensively disappointing), and finally to Rome by plane because he missed the sun. He loves the Eternal City, Capri, and Italy generally, with the exception of Milan (which apparently isn't Italian enough). He loves the scenery in Switzerland but doesn't care much for the Swiss. He doesn't particularly approve of Zurich or Geneva, either. And he makes it clear several times that German is a funny-sounding language and that German menus are dangerous to order from because you never know what weird dish you might get. He seems to like Yugoslavia, mostly because of its primitiveness and because it isn't crammed with tourists -- and he really dotes on Sofia, which is just strange. On the other hand, he doesn't like Istanbul at all.

Bryson is the sort of traveler who actually enjoys wandering by himself through a strange town, not understanding a word anyone says, not knowing the local mores. Apparently, he likes being a stranger -- The Other. I prefer knowing what I'm doing, understanding what's happening, appreciating what I'm looking at. I hate discovering, six months after returning home, that there was someplace I would have made every effort to visit, had I only known it was there. Anyway. Though he can be amusing, Bryson comes across as a bit of an Ugly American. Or Ugly Adopted Yorkshireman, or whatever. He tends to make wisecracks based on ignorance, such as making fun of the fact that Norway (in 1991) required motorists to drive with their headlights on, even in the sunniest weather. He considers this not only pointless but "surreal" -- although the practice now, fifteen years later, is widely recommended in the U.S. and (yes) required by law in some areas. So much for European backwardness.

This is one of my favorite humor/travel books. There are several sections that make me laugh out loud for pages, something not that many books can do. Over the space of a year, I've re-read it twice, and it remains as good and bright as ever. I've gone on to buy all Mr. Bryson's books, and have enjoed them all, but for me this is one of his very best.

Bill Bryson is a genius. This book is absolutely hilarious. I was never much of a reader, but i got this book for a present and when i started reading it i couldnt put it down. This is a must read. Bill Bryson, please right more (italy, islands, etc.)!!!

Why not just read Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad instead? Bryson's account reads like a bad rip-off at many points, and while Twain's mockery of a typical American tourist in Europe is clearly coming from love of and respect for his fellow Americans, Bryson comes off as snobbish and superior, wishing to distance himself from all things American, quick to point out that he is an ex-pat. Also, Twain is funnier. Of course.

You must know by now that I never write a bad review about this guy. In this book, we take a whirlwind tour of Europe. You can read the cover blurbs about how funny and perceptive he is, and how skillful he is with the language, and how eminently readable he is. I agree with every word. But I'd like to mention that this isn't some snooty tour guide or gushing forth bubblehead. He's an average guy who won't hesitate to tell you what sucks, or leave a place that he doesn't like, or bend over backwards to say nice things. He'll bash anybody, himself included. He's refreshingly honest.

Plus, if you had it in your head that Europe was just one homogenous place, or if perhaps you've heard a whole bunch of national or cities names and characteristics and can't keep them all straight, this book will fix that right up. In addition, if you're overseas but in a country nowhere near Europe, perhaps some place in Asia, you can still enjoy some very familiar situations. In case you haven't guessed, I highly recommend this book.

In 1990 Bill Bryson set out to "do Europe". He says that his motivation was to relive his experiences from tours in Europe in 1972 and 1973 when he was a young student wandering around Europe with a backpack.

In reality it seems as if the primary reason for Bill Bryson to do this trip was so that he could then write a funny book about the trip.

"Neither Here Nor There" is, in fact, a very funny book, at least in the beginning. Bill Bryson can describe situations in a very humorous way, and he's willing to make fun of himself, as well as everything around him.

Unfortunately, after a while the humor wears thin. Then it wears very thin. Then you begin to dissect the humor, and realize that you've been had.

Bill Bryson's method of traveling is to emulate the kind of tourism we all like to ridicule. He typically arrives by train in a new city in the evening. He has no hotel reservation so he has to spend time finding a hotel that is not really what he wanted. He sees "the sights" that one is supposed to see in that city. He makes no effort to get in touch with the local people, to learn about their lives, or to understand their country and society. He spends typically 2-3 days in each city and then goes to work on figuring out how to get to the next city or country on his list, which often leads to further complications.

This is obviously not the way to travel if you're writing a travel book. Nobody in their right mind would want to read about this kind of traveling.

But Bill Bryson is not writing a travel book, he's writing a funny book, and he has a sure-fire recipe:

1. Do things in problematic ways, and then make fun of all the trials and tribulations that result.

2. Mix in lots of flashbacks to the trips of your youth, with much juvenile humor related to the drives that young men are so driven by.

3. Feign incomprehension about everything foreign and satirize everything that is unfamiliar.

4. Make funny remarks intended to reinforce national prejudices.

This last type of humor can be especially tiring. Here are a few examples to illustrate what I mean:

"Let's face it, the French Army couldn't beat a girls' hockey team." (pg 32)

"The (German) women still don't shave their armpits. ... They all look so beautiful and stylish, and then they lift up their arms and there's a Brillo pad hanging there." (pg 91)

"In Norway, three people and a bottle of beer is a party; in Sweden the national sport is suicide." (pg 97)

"But the most preposterous law of all, a law so pointless as to scamper along the outer reaches of the surreal, is the Swedish one that requires motorists to drive with their headlights on during the daytime." (pg 110)

"I love the way the Italians park. You turn any street corner in Rome and it looks as if you've just missed a parking competition for blind people." (pg 123)

In conclusion, if you're someone who "did Europe" in your youth and you want to relive fond memories in a humorous way, then you may well like this book. Most other readers will probably start out laughing, then smiling, then wondering why the jokes seem to have lost their appeal, and finally ending up wishing they'd picked a real travel book or a real humorous book.

Rennie Petersen

PS. Just for the record, here is a list of the places covered: Norway (Hammerfest, Oslo), France (Paris), Belgium (Brussels, Bruges, Spa, Durbuy), Germany (Aachen, Cologne, Hamburg), Holland (Amsterdam), Denmark (Copenhagen), Sweden (Gothenburg, Stockholm), Italy (Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Capri, Florence, Milan, Como), Switzerland (Brig, Geneva, Bern), Liechtenstein, Austria (Innsbruck, Salzburg, Vienna), Yugoslavia (Split, Sarajevo, Belgrade), Bulgaria (Sofia), Turkey (Istanbul).

Bill Bryson has a talent for turning his travel adventures into a humorous celebration of the obscure, the bizarre and the frustrating. He has a keen and often sarcastic eye for what will entertain the seasoned armchair traveler, and books like `Down Under' and `Notes from a Small Island' are filled with hilarious anecdotes and interesting insights into the areas he is exploring. Unfortunately `Neither Here nor There' is not as engaging or amusing as many of Bryson's other efforts, and seems like a rather hotch-potch attempt to fill a book with as many destinations as possible.

With around 25 destinations visited in `Neither Here nor There', Bryson does not have the time or room to exercise his trademark ability to unearth unusual facts and figures. He seems to rush around Europe and not greatly enjoy his travels, although a large beer and a big meal often appears to soothe his frazzled spirits. One thing that surprised me was that Bryson proudly refuses to learn even the most basic foreign phrases, which seems a little rude and ignorant. I started to suspect that this is partly because he relies upon language-barrier humor a little too much. He also does not meet with locals a great deal in this book, denying us the Bryson knack for meeting people who are either a little odd, or filled with fascinating information.

Although I did still enjoy parts of `Neither Here nor There' immensely, I found myself occasionally wanting to skip a chapter or two, which saddened me as I am a great admirer of many of Bryson's other books. I ended the book feeling I didn't know a great deal more about the cities he visited, and that the book was more an attempt to gather enough material for publication rather than a great travel story that needed to be shared.

Although Bill Bryson books are very popular (and deservedly so!), what originally prompted me to read one was a comment in a review of John Donoghue's book called Shakespeare My Butt! which likened John's style of writing and humor to that of Bill's. Since I'd enjoyed John's hilariously funny book so much, which is in part about his own escapades around the strangely named places in the North East of England, I thought I would give one of Bill's books a go too. I was certainly not disappointed. What a great book `Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe' is.

It chronicles Bill's escapades as a solo traveler around Europe in a hilariously funny way. Being pick-pocketed in Florence, food ordering dilemmas in Germany, hotel nightmares in Luxembourg, lethal motorists in Paris, and more - much more. It's all in there, and we've all been through similar situations too on our own travels. Bill's observation of Europe is spot-on, and the wit that he uses to relate his traveling experiences to his audience takes no prisoners. It's pure comic genius and certainly had me laughing.

Now the only problem is that I can't decide who my favorite author is, John or Bill - so I guess they will both have to take joint pride of place on my bookshelf!

Unlike "Small Island," this book sticks to big cities that are familiar to travelers. Alternating the present trip with a years-ago trip with Katz makes this more interesting. He has his rants and he sometimes whines, but he is always funny and the narrative moves right along. This is not a travel guide but a series of essays.

This book is hilarious.

If you've ever travelled Europe or wanted to this book puts you into the passenger's seat. One of his earlier works, Bryson has the uncanny ability to distill what's funny about a people, place or situation and stamp his own brand of humour on it.

I've read all his books, I reckon this is 'Bryson's Best' to date.

I definitely liked this sarcastic but warm book about solitary travels thru Europe, interlaced with fragments of a journey taken years earlier with a certain weirdo named Katz.

The glimpses into European culture are just great- how movie tickets are sold here, how food is served with attitude there. Also, there is great comedy in the scenes of being an odd duck in places like Lichtenstein and MIlan, but also rewarding beauty in Capri and Paris.

I wish two things: that there had been more about Katz, who is one of the most misanthropic figures I have come across in a while and that generally makes for good comedy; also, that the last three chapters hadn't felt quite so tired. I suspect that that is just a realistic impression of how the author did feel towards the end of his journey but it was anti-climactic.

When purchasing audiobooks, I normally follow a simple but very effective rule: never, never, never buy an audiobook read by the author. Even if the author is a talented writer, he/she is invariably a terrible narrator. Always look for audiobooks performed by experienced readers, as in Bryson's own "Notes From a Small Island" and "A Walk in the Woods", read by Ron Mclarty.

In Bryson's case I made a rare exception when I listened to "In a Sunburned Country" - the audio version had received reasonable reviews and his performance was indeed adequately entertaining. For this reason I assumed that "Neither Here Nor There" would be equally enjoyable. I was wrong. Bryson's deadpan monologue makes it sound as though he was bored out of his mind while reading this book. Passages that may have seemed amusing in the written version are herein delivered in a sleep-inducing monotone. The sardonically comedic talent he displayed in his reading of "In a Sunburned Country" is totally lacking. I would recommend this audiobook only as a cure for insomnia.

This book is by no means meant to be a typical travel guide. This is more like a memoir of sorts. A memoir of a guy trying to relive an adventurous part of his youth, before he sells out to a middle aged mundane life. In stead of getting details about where to stay, where to eat, what to see... you get an impression. To me, this was vastly more interesting than a list of who-what-where.

You hear snippets of Katz... well, read A Walk in the Woods to learn more about Bryson's friend, reminds me of Seinfeld's Kramer. To Bryson's credit, he doesn't try to polish his story, or try to make himself out as anything he is not. He just tells it like it is. If anything, Bryson encourages armchair tourists to get out and live a little.

fantastic book...very funny, history facts intertwined throughout...well written. made me want to go back to europe!

I have mixed feelings about this book. Bill Bryson is undoubtedly a very witty writer and somewhat open to adventures (although it would be nice if he could tackle at least one foreign language in all of these years of "Weltenbummeln"). Unfortunately, he often comes across as the very sort of narrow-minded American tourist that he himself criticizes with gusto. He goes for the usual cheap shots of calling all Parisians snotty, as well as bringing up Nazi war crimes when confronting Germans. The worst part for me was when he was fed up with the French (who deigned not to speak his native tongue) and wanted to "remind them that we liberated them". (When will this whinging war cry ever end?! When are the other Allies EVER going to get any credit?) This is precisely the sort of smug behaviour that makes Americans universally detested abroad. Sure, he often changes his mind and mellows out after a few beers and a good meal, but those comments sting, and I'm not even European (I just live here).

I suspect that this book would have had a less isolated and more entertaining tone if Mr. Bryson had taken the beloved Katz along for the ride. Now that would make a great book!

I listened to this book on unabridged CD on my commutes to and from work, and there are very few authors that enliven the commute like Bill Bryson. I love his travel books. They are hilarious, observational and make the commutes just fly by. Sure, he does swear a little and frequents more bars than is probably recommended, but he is traveling by himself on this trip, for whatever that is worth. I have never been to Europe, and I found his observations and journeys quite a good time. I recommend it.

Bryson has a lazy and sometimes obnoxious style of writing, and the countries he visits in this book all blur together because of it. His perceptive commentaries on the natives can generally be summed up as "The Swiss, they're so funny!", "The Austrians, they're so funny!", "The _______, they're so funny!" He also uses a lot of expletives, apparently thinking this will add humor to his writing. His attempts to tie his travels to an earlier journey as a student are thin at best, and may be nothing more than an attempt to add padding to this small and worthless volume.

Bryson covers lots of cities and interactions with locals; his encounter with Austrians in a pub makes for chilling reading. The book is four stars rather than 5 because the light style encourages reading but the lack of maps, photos, and other exhibits prevents a 5-star award.

I bought this book for an aquaintance, a young guy with a good sense of humor and dreams of backpacking across europe, and couldn't resist reading it before passing it on. It really is hysterical, moving at a less tedious pace than some of his other travelogues. Bryson's ability to ridicule others (and himself!) and have it come off as endearing not an insult is remarkable, and the humor isn't forced, suprisingly poignant observations blend right in. The gift was quite a hit!

`Neither here nor there' is Bill Bryson's travel accounts through Europe, mostly some large cities. Now Bryson really isn't a traveller, he's more of an observing tourist. Typically, Bryson arrives somewhere, checks into a hotel, has something to say about it, goes out for a hike, wondering about what he sees, comparing it with how it looked twenty years ago when shoestringing the place with his side kick Katz, goes into a restaurant and either mocks or glorifies it. As always, food and beverages are quite a big deal in Bryson's accounts. And as ever, when being bored of it, he just skips some parts. He seems quite easy in strolling the local Main Street and then happily scratching the city of his list as a done deal.

Now that all sounds quite shallow if it wasn't for Bryson's observing eye and him taking a keen and clever interest in everything he sees, being accurate while at it. Plus he's hugely witty and funny, he really is. Even when he's p.o. about something, he's always amusing. Besides, more then his feet, his mind wanders in all directions at times, placing things into amusing perspectives. One really shouldn't judge this as a travel book, you just want to enjoy it for it's Bill Bryson who wrote it.