Scan barcode
Reviews
I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away by Bill Bryson
karenleagermain's review against another edition
3.0
After spending two decades living in England, author Bill Bryson moved his family (including English born wife and kids) back to the country of his birth, the United States. A British publication contacted Bryson about writing a newspaper column regarding his thoughts on returning to America and on the differences between American and British living. Bryson's book, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, is a compilation of those articles.
This particular book has sat on my TBR shelf for years, way before I ever met Dan. It was gathering dust for so long, that I didn't remember exactly what it was about, until a few days ago, when I plucked it off of the shelf and reread the back cover. I then got excited and immediately started to read it, as I thought that it might be helpful with explaining some of the cultural differences that Dan and I encounter and a timely read before my March trip to England.
Nope. Not really.
I felt like only about half of the chapters were even relevant to the theme. A lot seemed to be about modern life (computers, transportation, globalization) rather than the differences between the United States and the United Kingdom. I think this is natural, as Bryson often reflected on his childhood in America, but he didn't bring about a unique or interesting perspective to the subjects.
As with most collections, some chapters were more interesting than others. I found myself skimming through about a third of the book. It's a quick read, although I wish it had been more entertaining and engaging.
This is not to say that I didn't find bits funny. One thing that I have learned through dating Dan, is that the sense of humor between Americans and Brits is very different. Obviously it's different, but what I mean is It's different in a way that you just don't pick up on from watching movies and reading books, it's much more apparent when you are surrounded by it all of the time. Bryson's years in England have definitely made his sense of humor less American and it comes across strong in his writing. I don't know that I would have picked up on this if not for having Dan in my life.
As a fan of Bryson, I am sad to report that this is not one of his best efforts.
Please visit my blog for more reviews and thoughts on dating a Brit!
This particular book has sat on my TBR shelf for years, way before I ever met Dan. It was gathering dust for so long, that I didn't remember exactly what it was about, until a few days ago, when I plucked it off of the shelf and reread the back cover. I then got excited and immediately started to read it, as I thought that it might be helpful with explaining some of the cultural differences that Dan and I encounter and a timely read before my March trip to England.
Nope. Not really.
I felt like only about half of the chapters were even relevant to the theme. A lot seemed to be about modern life (computers, transportation, globalization) rather than the differences between the United States and the United Kingdom. I think this is natural, as Bryson often reflected on his childhood in America, but he didn't bring about a unique or interesting perspective to the subjects.
As with most collections, some chapters were more interesting than others. I found myself skimming through about a third of the book. It's a quick read, although I wish it had been more entertaining and engaging.
This is not to say that I didn't find bits funny. One thing that I have learned through dating Dan, is that the sense of humor between Americans and Brits is very different. Obviously it's different, but what I mean is It's different in a way that you just don't pick up on from watching movies and reading books, it's much more apparent when you are surrounded by it all of the time. Bryson's years in England have definitely made his sense of humor less American and it comes across strong in his writing. I don't know that I would have picked up on this if not for having Dan in my life.
As a fan of Bryson, I am sad to report that this is not one of his best efforts.
Please visit my blog for more reviews and thoughts on dating a Brit!
inkedmusingshi's review against another edition
4.0
Brilliantly written with tons of humor that's very Bryson
beynotce's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely my personal favorite of Bryson's work. One of the final pieces, "Rules for Living," was particularly memorable.
cdbarker's review against another edition
4.0
Because it is a series of Bryson's newspaper columns, the theme of "Observations for Brits by an American returning to America after two decades away" is fine, but it's tough when you're coming off Bryson's travel books to enjoy in the same manner. Which isn't fair to this piece, but it's the reality of my experience.
bianca89279's review against another edition
5.0
When in doubt and/or a funky reading mood, pick a Bill Bryson book - that's my (newest) motto.
As much as I'd love to re-read favourite books - if only to reacquaint myself with the story/characters and/or to check if they still thrill me as much, it's difficult to do so, when many unread books are beckoning me to pay attention. For the past month or so I've been a reluctant reader. Luckily, I'm still able to listen to audiobooks. So when perusing the library overdrive for audiobooks, I spotted this book and I had to download it even though I read it 10-15 years ago.
If the number of owned books is an indication of how much you love a certain author, then the eleven Bill Bryson books gathering dust on my bookshelf make him my favourite author. My love for him, better said for his wit, humour, intelligence, sarcasm, curiosity, observation skills and snark, has reached its highest level and after all these years it's still intact.
This book is a collection of weekly columns penned by Bryson between 1996-98. Dated, right? Or is it? Let's see:
- mass incarceration for minor offences, injustice, the death penalty issues relating to the immense costs, inequality of who gets put to death and most importantly, people wrongly convicted - still current and getting worse;
- airline companies not doing a very good job as service providers - check
- people being dumber and dumber, and the increasing trend of dumbing down - check
- too much choice, too much of anything, over-consumerism, disregard for the environment and conserving resources - check
- mindless shopping - check
- having a million and one TV channels and nothing to watch - check.
I'm guessing most people still have to drive everywhere as most places don't make any allowances for pedestrians?
Things that have changed: desktop computers seem to have put the serial numbers in more accessible places :-), oh, and who remembers the last time they spoke to a real person in a company about installing/setting up anything you bought from them?
While listening to this, I couldn't help wonder "what would Bryson make of today's this and that". I wish he still wrote weekly columns. I would even buy a magazine/newspaper subscription to read his musings.
As much as I'd love to re-read favourite books - if only to reacquaint myself with the story/characters and/or to check if they still thrill me as much, it's difficult to do so, when many unread books are beckoning me to pay attention. For the past month or so I've been a reluctant reader. Luckily, I'm still able to listen to audiobooks. So when perusing the library overdrive for audiobooks, I spotted this book and I had to download it even though I read it 10-15 years ago.
If the number of owned books is an indication of how much you love a certain author, then the eleven Bill Bryson books gathering dust on my bookshelf make him my favourite author. My love for him, better said for his wit, humour, intelligence, sarcasm, curiosity, observation skills and snark, has reached its highest level and after all these years it's still intact.
This book is a collection of weekly columns penned by Bryson between 1996-98. Dated, right? Or is it? Let's see:
- mass incarceration for minor offences, injustice, the death penalty issues relating to the immense costs, inequality of who gets put to death and most importantly, people wrongly convicted - still current and getting worse;
- airline companies not doing a very good job as service providers - check
- people being dumber and dumber, and the increasing trend of dumbing down - check
- too much choice, too much of anything, over-consumerism, disregard for the environment and conserving resources - check
- mindless shopping - check
- having a million and one TV channels and nothing to watch - check.
I'm guessing most people still have to drive everywhere as most places don't make any allowances for pedestrians?
Things that have changed: desktop computers seem to have put the serial numbers in more accessible places :-), oh, and who remembers the last time they spoke to a real person in a company about installing/setting up anything you bought from them?
While listening to this, I couldn't help wonder "what would Bryson make of today's this and that". I wish he still wrote weekly columns. I would even buy a magazine/newspaper subscription to read his musings.
calypsogilstrap's review against another edition
2.0
it would be good for teaching style or voice but for the most part I couldn't relate
jeffmauch's review against another edition
5.0
Another gem from Bill Bryson here. While this is only a collection of articles he wrote in a newspaper over the course of 3 years, it's probably best looked at as a collection of humorous short stories. Bryson has a knack for finding the humor in our everyday world and exploiting it, especially when it comes to the everyday things Americans do and say that just don't make sense or add up. Bryson brings an interesting point of view as a native Iowan who spent 20 years living in England. I like that I can read as many stories as I want in a sitting and that since they were newspaper articles, they're at most 4-5 pages. Very few of the stories disappoint and if you don't laugh out loud at least a few times, you may want to question if you truly have a sense of humor. As always, I can't recommend Bill Bryson's works enough and if you haven't given him a try yet, this would be a good one to take for a spin.
lportx's review against another edition
2.0
"Notes from a Big Country" is a series of essays written for a British audience about America. I love Bill Bryson, but this was the first book of his that didn't do it for me.
Originally, he's from Des Moines and wrote the book after returning to the States after 20 years in England. His tone for me was a little off-putting and came off as a person telling his new group of friends how lame his old group of friends were.
Hate to give a Bryson book a bad review, but this one was a chore to get through. It's a little dated since it was written in the mid-'90s. There are some laugh-out-loud moments, but it's rather tedious.
Originally, he's from Des Moines and wrote the book after returning to the States after 20 years in England. His tone for me was a little off-putting and came off as a person telling his new group of friends how lame his old group of friends were.
Hate to give a Bryson book a bad review, but this one was a chore to get through. It's a little dated since it was written in the mid-'90s. There are some laugh-out-loud moments, but it's rather tedious.
marther152's review against another edition
3.0
A compilation of his columns from the late 1990s about America so lots of things have changed since this book came out. Bryson always makes me chuckle though and this was a quick fun read.