Bigger and Better: Travels in Small Town and City America (First Steps Abroad Book 2)

Long before he set foot on American soil, Steve had already fallen for it. He grew up in 1980s London painfully aware his life lacked the dazzle of America as served up on TV. While Britain dealt drizzle and restraint, the US dished up sun, swagger, and spectacle—Magnum PI's beachfronts, Dynasty's shoulder pads and broad grins, and gritty cops racing through San Francisco at a clip.

Determined to taste the real thing, he worked a summer camp in upstate New York in exchange for a whirlwind tour of the East Coast, from New England’s charm to Washington D.C.

Five years later, with the dot-com boom in full swing, he headed west. The siren call of a flame-red convertible beckoned, as did Sunset Boulevard and In-N-Out burgers. From LA to San Francisco, with side shows to Vegas and the Grand Canyon, he chased the America of his boyhood.

Was the road, with black bears, mouth-watering colossal hamburgers, free refills, moose, ranch houses with shingled-roofs and half-baths, casinos with $1 dollar bills sized the same as $10 dollar bills, bars, guns—and a fleeting part in a TV show—all it was cracked up to be?

Only the journey—and a Y2K countdown clock—would tell.