Often the heart and truth of any given country is best written about by someone from outside. A stranger who can see it for the first time with wide eyed bewilderment and an innocent joy, unhampered by the intricacies of the place, the daily realities, the newsfeeds and the politics. Writers such as Michael Palin and Bill Bryson have done this to great and popular effect and even comedians such as Reg D Hunter and Ricky Gervais have shown that the nature of a place can be better summed up in concise and broad form by a traveller from a foreign land. Maybe they are only exploring the idea of a place, but when aimed at the modern, popularist market, maybe that is all we need.
With that in mind, Stephen Fry was the perfect choice to make a TV travelogue spanning all 50 states of America. His natural optimism, self confessed love of the country, effortless charm and wit make for as good a host as any and the 6 part BBC series Stephen Fry in America, which saw him drive a London black cab in search of the country’s heart was a great success. So naturally there had to be a book to accompany it.
The book is divided into 5 rough geographical areas, New England and The East Coast; The South East and Florida; The Deep South to The Great Lakes (following the route up the Mississippi River;) The Rockies, The Great Plains and Texas; The Southwest, The West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii. Large areas all and then within each of these there is a chapter regarding each state. As expected of a country this vast, the cultural diversity and character of the various regions are as different as individual European countries.
Anti-Americanism may be on the rise these days, but that view of America is one created by foreign policy, military actions, political leaders, film stars and TV evangelists. Thankfully this book veers away from such alien strata and explores the country through the lives of they everyday American, its popular culture, its people and their history.
From creating new ice-cream flavours with Ben and Jerry, to deer hunting in the Adirondacks, from the battlefield of Gettysburg to a Southern thanksgiving, following the great Mississippi from New Orleans at Mardi Gras to ice fishing in Minnesota, the variation and sheer scope of the continent unfolds. Bison ranches on the Great Plains, the homeless in Oklahoma, flying in a B-17 to the glitz of Las Vegas, through Oregon forests and meetings with Inupiat whalers and finally swimming with sharks in Hawaii, the journey is breath-taking.
As an accompaniment to the TV show the book makes for a great coffee table item, something to pick up, read a few pages over a hot beverage, but it also serves as the most basic of travel guide, at least one that might be the impetus for you to want to read more about a certain part of the country.
What also comes through is Fry’s love of the country, its youthful optimism, its drive, its charm, friendliness and excitement. For someone seen as the epitome of Englishness he makes the perfect advert for America. And this comes through clearly in his writing laced with the usual wit and friendly joshing.
As a Sunday Times best seller it obviously has broad appeal but the combination of the author and the subject fall perfectly together and Stephen Fry’s wonderful exuberance is enough to have you getting the maps out, tracing route 66 and looking up the cost of car hire in America.
