Dickens traveled to American in 1842, filled with much anticipation and excitement but also, I suspect, some preconceived notions. Certainly, the resulting volume, "American Notes," reveals a Dickens disaffected by some of what he saw, bemused at times, and thoroughly outraged (and outrageous) at others. If we look back to his earliest works, "Sketches by Boz" and "The Pickwick Papers," then a satirical portrayal of American society and its inhabitants should not be surprising. I think what is surprising, for me at least, is the overall tone of this book. It is much less humorous and a great deal more condescending than previous works. This is the beginning of the cranky Dickens, the one who has become pedantic, judgmental, and condemning as opposed to the Dickens of the sly wink, the wry commentary, and the broad caricature. Nevertheless, this is a valuable read for the travelogue and observations that Dickens provides. It is also important to note how wildly popular and well-known Dickens was, making his celebrity experience vastly different than the average traveler would have encountered. Overall, this is a quick read which reveals not only much about America in the 1840s, but also about Dickens himself and the worldview of an Englishman at that time.