National Lampoon Road Trip USA (ISBN 0978832302)

A Huge Disappointment:
Never before have I picked up a book with so much anticipation only to be so totally disappointed. National Lampoon's Road Trip USA is neither funny nor interesting. I cannot imagine anyone enjoying this book except a very crude and unlettered person with a fourth grade mentality. If you enjoy reading sophomoric vulgarities and obscenities which pass for humor, maybe this book is for you. If you're looking for good writing, genuine wit and interesting, offbeat travel stories, this book will let you down completely. As an avid road tripper, who has crisscrossed all fifty states dozens of times, and as one who has previously loved National Lampoon's movies, especially "Vacation" with Chevy Chase, I deeply regret having purchased this book. The only redeeming part of it is the title. The inside made me sick to my stomach and angry at myself for wasting my money on it.

Worth it alone for the Branson stuff.:
Harmon's book takes the reader to all the places they've been afraid to go - including Branson, Missouri! It's a fun read. Some of the highlights are, as mentioned above, Harmon's trip to Branson, his tales about boar hunting in florida, posing as a woman posing as a man at a drag king festival in Austin and, my personal favorite, his sojourn to a creepy fundamentalist mormon town in utah. Unfortunately, the rather lackluster art graphics take away from the reading. it looks like they're mapping out Harmon's travels on a USA map where the states are divided by hedgerows. Huh?!!! But, it's probably not Harmon's fault, but some national lampoon cost cutting to save dough for the next Van Wilder pictures. part travelogue, part diary, part infiltration adventures, National Lampoon Road Trip USA is 100% funny!

Fear and Loathing!:
Few things in America are as glorified or as feared as the road trip. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of "National Lampoon's Vacation" and the Griswold family car trip to the fictional Wally World, award-winning humorist Harmon Leon embarked on his own cross-country journey (in a rented Geo Metro). The results are detailed in "National Lampoon Road Trip USA: All the Places Your Dad Never Stopped At." The rau-cously funny new book riffs on places such as Hilldale, Utah, where Mormon fundamentalists find polygamy is fun; Lake Okeechobee, Fla., where the locals will let you kill a live animal with a gun, and Mahwah, N.J., where menimists (male feminists) congregate to reveal their sensitive sides (and to score with the ladies in attendance). With fear and loathing, Leon takes over where Hunter S. Thompson left off!