From Iceland to Australia, Clarkson travels the world exploring car culture. This is comic travel writing.

2008-03-17 Refreshing and enjoyable but makes you wonder

3.5 stars really. The author is fun to watch in action on TV. He is not afraid to speak his mind and has a unique turn of phrase when critcally examining something. He writes in much the same way. In fact, you sometimes catch yourself reading like Clarkson talks - complete with the pregnant pauses!

A light-hearted read, really. I did find some of the explanations/comments frustrating though. There is a chapter on Australia with a few outlandish statements that could be read as fact when they're not. Outlandish statements are, of course, pure, classic Clarkson but it got me thinking what else in the book (several countries I am not too familiar with) was really an embellishment - a "Clarksonism".

But then, that'd be regarding this book seriously which it certainly isn't. If you've been doing some heavy reading of late or enjoy Clarkson's take on the world, or even just want a laugh from a different type of travel book, then this book is a good choice. Makes me want to watch the Motorworld TV series.