Anyone who has been to Europe or dreamed of going will recognize the engaging blend of admiration and fascinated bewilderment that Bryson brings to this sharp and very funny account of a trip around the continent. Blending hilarious anecdotes with droll and worldly insights, he travels from Norway to Istanbul to Rome to Vienna. Maps.

In the early seventies, Bill Bryson backpacked across Europe--in search of enlightenment, beer, and women. He was accompanied by an unforgettable sidekick named Stephen Katz (who will be gloriously familiar to readers of Bryson's A Walk in the Woods). Twenty years later, he decided to retrace his journey. The result is the affectionate and riotously funny Neither Here Nor There.