false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1215478578m/526391.jpg 25 31 In the world of contemporary travel writing, Bill Bryson, the bestselling author of <i>A Walk in the Woods</i>, 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>I'm a Stranger Here Myself</I> 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 <I>Night & Day</I> 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. <I>--Melissa Rossi</I> 3419048 1998 I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away total:6842|5:1537|4:2871|3:2046|2:353|1:35| 6842 26048 8925 670 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 2 5 false Mon Aug 04 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 31 16:49:13 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 14:40:59 -0700 2008 I'm a Stranger Here is selections from his newspaper column which chronicles his experiences. Some of them are funny, like "Dying Accents" and "The Best Ame...more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 3 2 false Wed Jan 24 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Mon Feb 11 06:11:07 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 06:11:07 -0800 2008
At funtrivia.com, one of the (many) ways a quiz can go from a relatively high ranking to "very poor" between the time I start and the time I finish is a factual error that causes me to get a question wrong. Research is...more...]]> 526391 0552997862 9780552997867 306 33 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1215478578m/526391.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/526391.Notes_from_a_Big_Country 2 3 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 14 09:34:09 -0800 2008 Mon Jul 07 17:55:56 -0700 2008
This book is a collection of n...more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 3 1 false Wed Dec 12 20:52:34 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 13 07:47:34 -0800 2007 more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 4 2 false Sat Jun 14 09:41:58 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 14 09:46:31 -0700 2008
I think Bill Bryson is very cool. I'd like him to be my neighbor. He could write stories about me. Like "I have...more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 2 2 false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 17 22:46:47 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 17 22:46:47 -0800 2008
Obsessions with skinny white girls named Jessica; the unbelievable noise, especially fro...more...]]> 526391 0552997862 9780552997867 306 33 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1215478578m/526391.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/526391.Notes_from_a_Big_Country 4 1 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 07 03:29:29 -0800 2008 Sun Sep 28 00:32:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 2 0 false Sun Aug 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 16:42:12 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 16:54:07 -0700 2009
This one, though, was kind of boring. It started strong. I'd say the first 40 pages were great. I laughed out loud and all that. But, then it degenerated into some really formulaic, well-worn territory. Observations about complicate...more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 2 1 false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 18:09:24 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 02 18:35:34 -0800 2009 VCRs: Needlessly complicated!
Americans: Friendlier, fatter than Brits!
Kids these days: not what they used to be!

And yet I chuckled on nearly every page. So sue me.]]> 526391 0552997862 9780552997867 306 33 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1215478578m/526391.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/526391.Notes_from_a_Big_Country 3 0 false Sat Jul 04 15:21:08 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 12:26:54 -0700 2009
It’s a collection of short articles ...more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 2 0 false Wed Jan 07 12:24:28 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 20:23:15 -0800 2009 I'm a Stranger Here Myself is an amusing book, but certain aspects of it irked me to no end. Since the book consists of columns he wrote for a newspaper, continuity is an issue. I tired of the "witty" endings to most of his columns. His dialogue got on my nerves, too, because inst...more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 4 0 false Mon Jul 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 11:04:57 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 10:33:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 5 0 false Mon Feb 09 11:43:14 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 12:32:10 -0800 2009 more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 4 0 false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 13:08:11 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 14:37:45 -0700 2009 more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 4 0 false Tue Aug 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 12:29:24 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 13:49:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 4 0 false Wed Dec 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 07 10:59:45 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 22:09:18 -0800 2008
"Well, let's just try to grasp the concept of $1 trillion. Imagine that you were in a vault filled with dollar bills and that you were told you could keep each one you initialed. Say, too, for the sake of argument that you could...more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 2 0 false Mon Jan 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 06:53:56 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 06:36:13 -0800 2009
This collection, however, is unnecessarily crippled by its format; brief dispatches for a weekly col...more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 0 1 false Fri Sep 04 17:09:40 -0700 2009 Mon Dec 07 18:49:03 -0800 2009 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 4 0 false Mon Apr 06 17:39:33 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 17:42:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 25 076790382X 9780767903820 6409 622 3.81 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1156042887m/25.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25.I_m_a_Stranger_Here_Myself_Notes_on_Returning_to_America_After_20_Years_Away 5 0 false Thu Jul 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 19:26:28 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 19:31:05 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=526391