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    <name><![CDATA[Rebecca]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[The United States]]></location>        
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      <rating>4</rating>
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  <read_at>Tue Feb 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009</read_at>
  <date_added>Thu Feb 12 20:02:32 -0800 2009</date_added>
  <date_updated>Thu Feb 12 20:24:22 -0800 2009</date_updated>
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    <body><![CDATA[Sarah Lyall is a very talented writer.  I chuckled out loud multiple times per chapter.  Granted, she has good material, much of which did the work for her.  An American living in London and married to a Brit, she keenly observes the quirks of the British character and British culture.  So we learn about boarding schools that terrorize their otherwise privileged students; the hilarious House of Commons, in which, supposedly, it doesn't matter if you're drunk, as long as you show up; British journalism, which is both avidly consumed and deeply scorned and distrusted; and the curious British love for hedgehogs and other animals (apparently British people donate more money to homes for old and wounded donkeys than to organizations for poor, sick, and disabled people.)  Lyall has great comic timing and a light touch, although by the end some of her lines fall flat or start to seem canned.  Also, I have no idea how accurate her characterizations are--obviously she makes a lot of generalizations-- and I'm not sure how I'd feel if I were British.  In a way the book is sustained mockery, but it's clear that underneath her skepticism and bemusement she respects her new countrymen.  I think.  Anyway, I came away thinking they are cool, and extremely entertaining.  ]]></body>
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