Chapters 1 through 4 Summary and Analysis

Bill Bryson, who grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, says that someone had to be from Des Moines. He says people there either accept the fact that they'll marry a local girl and work at Firestone or they spend years moaning about the place and grow up to marry a local girl and work at Firestone. People who are merely passing through stop for gas and never leave, and will be seen years later, confused but serene in their decision. The best thing about being from Des Moines is that by Iowa standards it's a "dynamic hub of wealth and education." When Bryson is ten, he watches a documentary about film making in foreign countries and is hooked. He immediately wants to live somewhere else and says he wants to "step outside my front door and be somewhere." When...