Not his best, but still better than almost anyone else.

books:


	• I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away Bill Bryson Broadway, 2000 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 220 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Not his best, but still better than almost anyone else.

I have recently been on something of a Bill Bryson binge. After having read The Mother Tongue and Short History of Nearly Everything, which are two of his more scholarly-oriented books, I decided to try this book (perhaps it should be noted that I have yet to read A Walk in the Woods; this title just appealed to me more). The stories are often clever, and despite his complaining Bryson rarely, if ever, leaves the threshold of good intentions. You have to realize that he is a reasonable man, and some of these irrational rants are merely for entertainment's sake and should not be analyzed too closely. That said, I agree with the editorial review in that sometimes he enters Dave Barry-like hyperbole, something that I personally find cheap and overdone, although Dave Barry sells lots of books, so many people must think that style is funny. Personally, the more subtle humor, such as the little pet names for his wife he inserts in what are supposedly transcripts of actual conversations with her, that amuses me, as well as his joyful musings on American life. Sure, this isn't too profound, but it manages to be intelligent and critical, while maintaining a whimsical air. I can just picture ol' Bill with a content smirk on his face while writing these articles in his house in Hanover. To sum it all up, Bill Bryson seems like the kind of guy I would love to have over for dinner, assuming he is as entertaining in person as he is in this book.

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Not bad for a collection

As a fan of collections of brief articles, and a bigger fan of Bill Bryson's work, this collection was a joy to read. My only mistake was reading it in a public setting, where laughing out loud was met with strange gazes and glares from others.

The basic gist is this: after living in England for many years, Bill Bryson and his family move to America and to small-town New Hampshire. He continued to write a column for a newspaper in England, however, the subject of which was the peculiarities of life in America. It is these articles that are collected here. Whether you'll love each individual article depends on your mood at the moment and whether you're interested in the topic; for example, I skipped through exactly one story (detailing his struggles with computer tech support).

To American readers, the book allows us to laugh at ourselves and the nitty gritty details of our society that we shake our heads at constantly. Since the book's components were written for a non-American audience, I would speculate that others would be equally amused. In any event, Bill Bryson's unique style and constant bewilderment at the way other people's minds work will keep any reader entertained.

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totally surprised

I loved this book. I am not a critic... just a person who thought this book was hysterical. I never laugh aloud reading, but did on this one. He has a great dry sense of humor that matched mine. I would recommend to anyone.. only exception would be other big writers and critics... I am sure they would rip his book for something. I liked his other book about hiking the Appalachian Trail too, but this one was funnier.

Very funny!

This book was really fun to read, it's clever and funny. Since each chapter is was a newspaper column originally, it reads like a collection of short stories.

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