Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All Review
Amazon.com knows me. With Magic Cookies it keeps track of
what I look at and buy, so it can suggest OTHER books for me to
buy. What a thoughtful company!
That's how I discovered the book, "Stephen Fry in
America."
"That's a familiar name," I thought, but who he was stayed
perched on the far edges of my mind, where the deer and the
antelope play.
And while I busied myself with other things, my brain was
flipping through its files, searching for "Stephen Fry." Right
in the middle of eating a coldcut sub, Eureka, it came
to me. Of course! Stephen Fry was half of "Fry and Laurie,"
that wonderful British comedy team of the 1980s and 1990s! Stephen Frye
went on to write this highly entertaining
book. His partner, Hugh Laurie, came to America to star in a
TV show called "House," and was never heard from again.
"Stephen Fry in America" isn't exactly a travel book. It's
more than that. Mr. Fry visits each state, avoiding the usual
tourist attractions. He holds up a mirror to ourselves in
this book full of wit and humor.
Best of all, Fry tells what he thinks of the people and
places. He talks with Morgan Freeman in Mississippi, joins
Zulus in a Mardi Gras march, drums with the Sioux Nation,
celebrates Halloween in Salem, goes to a club for failed
gangsters in Brooklyn.
He even tries his hand at some of their jobs. Lobstering
in Maine, for instance. He's amazed at the amount of hard work
it takes to get these aggressive crustaceans into the boat. And
his opinion of lobsters? "...simply giant marine insects. Huge
bugs in creepy armour. Look at a woodlouse and then at a
lobster. Cousins, surely?"
In West Virginia he joins workers at the Kanawha Eagle
Mine. When they're deep into the mine, he panics. "I am hating
this. I want to escape, NOW, right this minute please, but I am
too much of a coward to let anyone see what a coward I am...I
add miners to the list of people I tremendously admire but
would rather die than emulate."
In Wisconsin---"You should know by now that I love,
respect, venerate and adore most things American...so much here
is of abiding value, charm, beauty and quality. But not the
cheese...the most hideous orange melted gunk...with a processed
liquid substance which is closer to a polymer than a
foodstuff."
Montana is smaller than only Alaska, Texas and California.
Didn't know that.
Fry visits the Montana-Canadian border. Well, not all of
it; the border is 550 miles long. It's heavily policed, now.
In this fourth-largest state, he visits the biggest
landowner in America, aside from the federal government. He's
"an extraordinarily generous and, some would say, eccentric
philanthropist."
Fry's visit with Ted Turner is friendly and fascinating.
At the end of it, Fry writes, "A likeable, stylish individual
who seems to have got more pleasure from his money and done
more with it than most."
Tennessee---ah-ha! My home! Fry goes to Townsend to hear
bluegrass, which he's always loved. At the Rocky Branch Club,
he wanders "from room to room dizzy with delight."
He then goes to Memphis to see the famous (in Memphis,
anyway) ducks. At the end of this part, he writes, "Duck poo,
unpleasant as it is, has great appeal when compared with what
awaits me further north in the city of Knoxville."
W-E-L-L!! I turn the page, feeling personally insulted.
And there it is, in large letters---"CADAVERS!" He's writing
about the Body Farm!
It was not a pleasant visit for him. His descriptions are
very graphic. "For all my age and experience, there had still
been some sweet, small, shy flower of innocence inside me when
I arrived at the Body Farm. By the time I leave, it has gone
forever."
If memory serves me correctly, and half the time it does,
Fry deeply dislikes only one state, New Jersey. Sorry, Boss.
The words printed under "New Jersey" are "And so I find
myself driving into hell." That "Garden State" motto does not
fool him one bit.
He dislikes only one city, Waikiki. "What a horrible, what
a grotesque, what a SHATTERING disappointment. Of all the
unspeakably vile tourist hells I have ever visited, this has to
be one of the worst."
(Tell us how you REALLY feel, Mr. Fry!)
At the beginning of each state's section, there is a
sidebar called "KEY FACTS." State nickname, flower, bird, well-
known residents/natives. Under the last heading, for New
York State, he writes, "That would be unfair on the other
states. There are thousands." The "be unfair ON," rather than
"TO" the other states, is because Fry writes this book in
English-English. At the back of the book he lists 68 "American-
English" words for his British readers.
Fry, this funny fellow, ends the book by writing, "I loved
America before this trip and I love it now more than ever...I
met very few fools on my travels, save perhaps the British I
encountered who thought themselves naturally superior: I still
shiver with embarrassment at the memory of their imbecile
arrogance. America is not perfect, and I do not love Britain
any less for loving America more."
He loves us! And you'll love him and his book! It's good-
sized, with photographs on almost every page.
Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All Feature
- ISBN13: 9780061456381
- Condition: New
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Stephen Fry in America: Fifty States and the Man Who Set Out to See Them All Overview
Britain's best-loved comic genius, Stephen Fry, turns his celebrated wit and insight to unearthing the real America as he travels across the continent in his chariot of Englishness, a black London cab.
Stephen Fry has always loved America. In fact, he came very close to being born here. His fascination for the country and its people sees him embarking on an epic journey across America, visiting each of its fifty states to discover how such a huge diversity of people, cultures, languages, and beliefs creates such a remarkable nation. Stephen starts his journey on the East Coast and zigzags across America, stopping in every state from Maine to Hawaii, talking to each state's hospitable citizens, listening to music, visiting landmarks, viewing small-town life and America's breathtaking landscapes, following wherever his curiosity leads him.
En route he discovers the South Side of Chicago with blues legend Buddy Guy, catches up with Morgan Freeman in Mississippi, strides around with Ted Turner on his Montana ranch, marches with Zulus in Mardi Gras in New Orleans, drums with the Sioux Nation in South Dakota, joins a Georgia family for Thanksgiving, "picks" with bluegrass hillbillies, and finds himself in a Tennessee garden full of dead bodies.
Whether in a club for failed gangsters in Brooklyn, New York (yes, those are real bullet holes), or celebrating Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts (is there anywhere better?), Stephen is welcomed by the people of America—mayors, sheriffs, newspaper editors, park rangers, teachers, and hoboes, bringing to life the oddities and splendors of each locale. A celebration of the magnificent and the eccentric, the beautiful and the strange, Stephen Fry in America is the author's homage to this extraordinary country.
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Customer Reviews
Such a wonderful pleasure! - tallahasseelass - Tallahassee, FL USA
Stephen Frey has a charm in his writing that brings his wit in conversational format to the reader. I have laughed so in reading this book that others wondered what could possibly be so funny about travel in the United States. My only regret is that I did not meet Mr. Frey when he travelled to Florida as I would have welcomed the chance to show him around our state's capital city!
Know NOT America - Mark A. Zecca - Los Angeles
Urban redneck and low class snob came to mind when I read this book. Mr. Fry's take on the states is full of tired old stereotypes and cliches. He repeats the same old rhetoric that people who have ever drove through an interstate sums up a state in a paragraph. Take New Jersey where he shreds the state apart and reduces it to dumb class of Jersey boys and girls and describes how ugly it is. Sorry Mr. Fry you don't know New Jersey and it's beauty or it's people. New Jersey is per capita the richest state in the union. Princeton University is here among other prestigious institutions. I don't think that class of people would live there if it was such a terrible place to live. This book should not be taken seriously. I couldn't even donate this book so I put it in it's rightful place , THE TRASH.
In Fry I Trust - RealGrrl - Tulsa, OK
In 2008, the quintessential Englishman, Stephen Fry, traveled across the entire United States to experience what each individual state had to offer.
What I liked about this book is that Fry stayed away from popular sites e.g. Times Square, and instead chose to visit more colorful & interesting locales. To a non-American, it would probably seem like the states have their own flavor, but we do have a common ingredient that can be found across the entire nation & Fry usually was confronted with it when he read our state mottos, slogans, & even watched commercials all of which declare the unique attitude & culture of where he was at the moment. To the next state, it seemed to be repeat itself & Fry took it all in stride, seeming to enjoy it rather than ridicule it for all its worth. (I know I would have done it, given the chance.)
I'm only giving the book three stars as I thought each state's section was too short & yes, Fry predicted that Americans would be dissatisfied with their own state's portrayal which I will confirm that for me (as an Okie) that I was a bit disappointed with what he included. But maybe I'm just being cynical, after all he did show Okies as being charitable & enjoying the pastime of rodeo, which isn't a bad depiction in the least. Fry could have easily made a book about how there is more bad than good in the US & it would have been easy to do. It was nice to read a book filled with the more positive elements of our society: hardwork, community, indigenous cultures, & the ability to drive a car on the beach (well, two of them).
Bonuses: All of that trivia & history! Also, the beautiful photography & Fry's British wit & humoUr.
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