Rinn
Written on Jun 3, 2013
I somehow completely missed watching this TV series when it was on air a couple of years ago. I've always been aware of it, and caught the occasional bit of an episode (always the same one... about the Body Farm. Normally whilst eating.), but never watched much of it.
I learnt quite a bit whilst reading this book - although I think I could probably name every state, and had a general idea of where each one was located, I previously couldn't tell you much about them. For instance, I never had any idea that Wisconsin and Minnesota were cold states. Fry creates a pretty clear picture of each landscape that he travels through, enough to make me want to visit several states that I previously knew nothing about. He also covers some less well-known (and very unappealing) places, such as a body farm in Tennessee, used to study how the human body decomposes in various conditions.
Whilst being the sort of travel fiction that I enjoy - factual, yet witty, enough information to interest but not too bogged down - this felt a bit sparse. I think it is very much a companion to the series rather than something you could read by itself; there just isn't enough information on each state, I think the most is about four pages.
Personally, I would've loved a proper book about Stephen's trip - especially coming from such a humourous, talented person - but I guess this just wasn't it. It's definitely more of a 'coffee table' book (as one of my lecturers used to refer to big hardbacks with pretty photos), that you might flick through, or pick out certain bits to read.
I do definitely now want to watch the series (it's not as long as I believed it was) - but perhaps I'll skip through part of Tennessee...