|
Loading... I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years…by Bill Bryson
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Bryson back to his hilarious form of "Notes from..." Much less crude and much more funny. (  ) ORFisHome | Jul 13, 2009 |  I have significantly enjoyed several of Bryson's books, this one was less reliably and a little less interesting. Part of the problem may have been time lag. This book is nearly ten years old now and some of his more perceptive comments about the US are now commonplace. Another difficulty is that I have extended family in the UK, which is why I expected to enjoy the book more, but that may have served to make it less interesting for me. Do not get me wrong, I did laugh out loud several times, and I was not bored. The three star rating says exactly what I feel: This was good enough but not better than good enough. Other LT reviewers agree with me that this is not his best effort. (  ) NeverStopTrying | Jul 11, 2009 | Bryson writes good stuff as always but this is a collection of his newspaper columns so I enjoyed it rather less than some of his other works which hang together better. The columns start to follow a set formula after a while - probably as you would expect - and I found the little quirky twist at the end REALLY started to annoy me! ( ) samsheep | Jun 30, 2009 | My husband and I listened to this book on cd while taking a road-trip from Chicago to the Smoky Mountains. It was very entertaining and had us laughing so hard at times we were crying. Hearing the author read the book in his dry candor, definitely enhanced the experience. (  )1  blondestranger | Jun 17, 2009 | so funny! ( ) amanaceerdh | Jun 8, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 076790382X, Paperback)In the world of contemporary travel writing, Bill Bryson, the bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods, often emerges as a major contender for King of Crankiness. Granted, he complains well and humorously, but between every line of his travel books you can almost hear the tinny echo: "I wanna go home, I miss my wife."Happily, I'm a Stranger Here Myself unleashes a new Bryson, more contemplative and less likely to toss daggers. After two decades in England, he's relocated to Hanover, New Hampshire. In this collection (drawn from dispatches for London's Night & Day magazine), he's writing from home, in close proximity to wife and family. We find a happy marriage between humor and reflection as he assesses life both in New England and in the contemporary United States. With the telescopic perspective of one who's stepped out of the American mainstream and come back after 20 years, Bryson aptly holds the mirror up to U.S. culture, capturing its absurdities--such as hotlines for dental floss, the cult of the lawsuit, and strange American injuries such as those sustained from pillows and beds. "In the time it takes you to read this," he writes, "four of my fellow citizens will somehow manage to be wounded by their bedding." The book also reflects the sweet side of small-town USA, with columns about post-office parties, dining at diners, and Thanksgiving--when the only goal is to "get your stomach into the approximate shape of a beach ball" and be grateful. And grateful we are that the previously peripatetic Bryson has returned to the U.S., turning his eye to this land--while living at home and near his wife. Under her benevolent influence, he entertains through thoughtful insights, not sarcastic stabs. --Melissa Rossi (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:52 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
Abebooks |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
