Travel Writer Bill Bryson: Condescending Liberal Elitist?

It’s not often you see travel writers critiqued for their politics, or for a book published 17 years ago. Writing on OpinionEditorials.com, a site that reports it was founded by the “center-right” Frontiers of Freedom Institute, Ari J. Kaufman argues that Bryson’s 1989 book, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, “encapsulates the essence of liberal elitism, from an author who combines his self-perceived intellectuality with condescension.” Kaufman believes that Bryson could be “a forerunner in the anti-middle American movement.” Why, you might ask? Among other things, Kaufman writes, “While traveling through the Deep South, he cleverly chides the ‘incomprehensible’ southern accents, their religiosity, lack of education, obesity, guns racks on pick up trucks and lastly, firework sales.”

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