Neither Here Nor ThereNeither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe
Year: 1991
Author: Bill Bryson
Length: 338 minutes / 5.63 hours

Over time, I’ve found Bill Bryson’s books are hit-or-miss for me. I enjoyed his memoir about childhood, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and it was A Walk in the Woods that introduced me to Bryson in the first place. However, since then, I’ve struggled to find something that’s lived up to those two books. At Home came close, but I was really turned off by I’m a Stranger Here Myself. Ultimately, I hoped Neither Here Nor There would fit the bill, but it disappointed me once again.

Perhaps Bryson’s travels in Europe weren’t interesting to me because I haven’t been over there myself. Most of the details in this book felt like they would only be understood by someone who knew what Bryson was talking about because they had experienced the same thing. I did appreciate the dueling retrospective look at Bryson’s life between his younger days to when he was older and wiser, but most of the focus seemed to be on remembering when he was a young man (and all the negative foibles that come with it).

In the end, Neither Here Nor There doesn’t really have anything to say. The author went to Europe and visited the same places twice. That’s it. For those looking for some deep philosophical examination of Europe or a comparison of how it’s better/worse when compared to the United States, you might end up being disappointed. Sure, there’s some of that in here, but it’s so light that it merely glances off the main plot of the literal traveling of Europe. It probably doesn’t help that much of the humor in this book hasn’t aged well either.

Bill Bryson’s travel log from his trips to Europe, I give Neither Here Nor There 3.0 stars out of 5.

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