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Lets be honest with ourselves, hes not that funny.
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I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away
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After living in Britain for two decades, Bill Bryson recently moved back to the United States with his English wife and four children (he had read somewhere that nearly 3 million Americans believed they had been abducted by aliens--as he later put it, "it was clear my people needed me"). They were greeted by a new and improved America that boasts microwave pancakes, twenty-four-hour dental-floss hotlines, and the staunch conviction that ice is not a luxury item.
Delivering the brilliant comic musings that are a Bryson hallmark, I'm a Stranger Here Myself recounts his sometimes disconcerting reunion with the land of his birth. The result is a book filled with hysterical scenes of one man's attempt to reacquaint himself with his own country, but it is also an extended if at times bemused love letter to the homeland he has returned to after twenty years away.
Delivering the brilliant comic musings that are a Bryson hallmark, I'm a Stranger Here Myself recounts his sometimes disconcerting reunion with the land of his birth. The result is a book filled with hysterical scenes of one man's attempt to reacquaint himself with his own country, but it is also an extended if at times bemused love letter to the homeland he has returned to after twenty years away.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1998
This edition
- Format
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304 pages, Paperback
- Published
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June 28, 2000 by Broadway Books
- ISBN
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9780767903820
- ASIN
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076790382X
- Language
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English
About the author
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William McGuire Bryson is an American-British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has been a resident of Britain for most of his adult life, returning to the U.S. between 1995 and 2003, and holds dual American and British citizenship. He served as the chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011.
In 1995, while in the United Kingdom, Bryson authored Notes from a Small Island, an exploration of Britain. In 2003, he authored A Short History of Nearly Everything. In October 2020, he announced that he had retired from writing books. In 2022, he recorded an audiobook for Audible, The Secret History of Christmas. He has sold over 16 million books worldwide.
In 1995, while in the United Kingdom, Bryson authored Notes from a Small Island, an exploration of Britain. In 2003, he authored A Short History of Nearly Everything. In October 2020, he announced that he had retired from writing books. In 2022, he recorded an audiobook for Audible, The Secret History of Christmas. He has sold over 16 million books worldwide.
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Community Reviews
Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 113 votes)
5 stars
44(39%)
4 stars
35(31%)
3 stars
34(30%)
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113 reviews All reviews
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This book was cute. Some parts were extremely funny, especially I guess for someone that did not live their whole life in America. But especially to people who split their lives between the US and other places.
Bryson goes through a bunch of things that don't make complete sense. The best and the worst of the US, and he does that getting a smile or a laugh in almost every chapter.
Coming back to your native land after an absence of many years is a surprisingly unsettling business, a little like waking from a long coma. Time, you discover, has wrought changes that leave you feeling mildly foolish and out of touch. You proffer hopelessly inadequate sums when making small purchases. You puzzle over ATM machines and automated gas pumps and pay phones, and are astounded to discover, by means of a stern grip on your elbow, that gas station road maps are no longer free.
I am already a fan of Bryson, and quotes like this one will make me read more of him:
I mean, here we were living in a paradise of junk food -- the country that gave the world cheese in a spray can -- and she kept bringing home healthy stuff like fresh broccoli and packets of Swedish crispbread.
I found A Walk in the Woods more funny and fun to read. Maybe because this one was a set of columns and not an actual story. About 3.5 stars.
Bryson goes through a bunch of things that don't make complete sense. The best and the worst of the US, and he does that getting a smile or a laugh in almost every chapter.
Coming back to your native land after an absence of many years is a surprisingly unsettling business, a little like waking from a long coma. Time, you discover, has wrought changes that leave you feeling mildly foolish and out of touch. You proffer hopelessly inadequate sums when making small purchases. You puzzle over ATM machines and automated gas pumps and pay phones, and are astounded to discover, by means of a stern grip on your elbow, that gas station road maps are no longer free.
I am already a fan of Bryson, and quotes like this one will make me read more of him:
I mean, here we were living in a paradise of junk food -- the country that gave the world cheese in a spray can -- and she kept bringing home healthy stuff like fresh broccoli and packets of Swedish crispbread.
I found A Walk in the Woods more funny and fun to read. Maybe because this one was a set of columns and not an actual story. About 3.5 stars.
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I read this mostly while on the metro in New York, and very much enjoyed it. It’s definitely a book you should read piece by piece, not in one sitting. As someone not from the US, I loved reading this (and obviously taking it with a pinch of salt) while in the US for the first time.
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Charming and hilarious; loved it.
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My least favorite Bill Bryson book to date, because of the nature of the essays which he originally intended for a different purpose other than a book of collected essays. But his writing is so, so great.
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Apparently I rated this 4* on September 25, 2011.
Who is this person?? (Would give 2-ish stars now)
I'm pretty sure I actually read it between 2000-2008, closer to the date of publication. This kind of observational humor was different. I was different.
I just can't imagine reading this for the first time in 2022 and thinking, hey this is really good!
And yet I should really be the target audience for this book - and obviously was at the time I read it!
Bryson left the US around the time I was born and returned to the US when I was in the early years of "adulting" and married to a foreigner to boot! - so I was probably having similar discussions with my husband about "geez whiz" america is weird compared to other places. Now I'm in the position of being "a stranger" to the US, especially since I missed the Obama years, the Trump years, and am missing Covid/Biden. So if I were to move back I would be gee whizzing away and yet, it's falling flat now. Weirdly, I had a similar experience with A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail - really enjoyed it the first go around then blah.
I think also, ironically, because I read the American edition the first time and I am currently reading is the UK version, I think some things were changed in the version I read which would resonate more with me as an American versus the original target of amusing the British Notes From A Big Country
The clip art at the beginning of each chapter is so quaint and ridiculous. And it seems so strange to me that columns written from '96-'98 act as if the internet didn't exist - though Bryson is proudly anti-computer.
Perhaps I've just become anti boomer in the last 20+ years, but the anecdotes are occaisionally chuckle-worthy and I have relegated it to bathroom reading. If it's 2022 and you still find Erma Bombeck, Andy Rooney, Garrison Keillor funny, you might really get a kick out of this. But I encourage you to get with the times!
Who is this person?? (Would give 2-ish stars now)
I'm pretty sure I actually read it between 2000-2008, closer to the date of publication. This kind of observational humor was different. I was different.
I just can't imagine reading this for the first time in 2022 and thinking, hey this is really good!
And yet I should really be the target audience for this book - and obviously was at the time I read it!
Bryson left the US around the time I was born and returned to the US when I was in the early years of "adulting" and married to a foreigner to boot! - so I was probably having similar discussions with my husband about "geez whiz" america is weird compared to other places. Now I'm in the position of being "a stranger" to the US, especially since I missed the Obama years, the Trump years, and am missing Covid/Biden. So if I were to move back I would be gee whizzing away and yet, it's falling flat now. Weirdly, I had a similar experience with A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail - really enjoyed it the first go around then blah.
I think also, ironically, because I read the American edition the first time and I am currently reading is the UK version, I think some things were changed in the version I read which would resonate more with me as an American versus the original target of amusing the British Notes From A Big Country
The clip art at the beginning of each chapter is so quaint and ridiculous. And it seems so strange to me that columns written from '96-'98 act as if the internet didn't exist - though Bryson is proudly anti-computer.
Perhaps I've just become anti boomer in the last 20+ years, but the anecdotes are occaisionally chuckle-worthy and I have relegated it to bathroom reading. If it's 2022 and you still find Erma Bombeck, Andy Rooney, Garrison Keillor funny, you might really get a kick out of this. But I encourage you to get with the times!
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يتحدث بيل برايسون في هذا الكتاب عن تجربته في العودة إلى الولايات المتحدة بعد أن عاش في إنجلترا لمدة عشرين عامًا. الكتاب يتألف من مجموعة من الأعمدة الصحفية التي كتبها برايسون لمجلة بريطانية، ويؤرخ من خلالها محاولاته للتكيف مع الحياة في أمريكا بعد هذا الغياب الطويل. يكتب برايسون عن مجموعة واسعة من الموضوعات في الكتاب ، بدءًا من تفاصيل الحياة اليومية (مثل محاولة معرفة كيفية استخدام الهاتف المدفوع) إلى التغييرات الأكثر أهمية التي حدثت في الولايات المتحدة منذ مغادرته (مثل ظهور الكمبيوتر الشخصي). الكتاب قديم نسبيا لذلك أعجبني أنه أرخ لفترة التسعينات في أمريكا. كما أنه يقارن ويقارن بين الثقافة الأمريكية والبريطانية، ويقدم ملاحظاته الفريدة عن كلا البلدين. في جميع فصول الكتاب، يحتفظ برايسون بنبرة روح الدعابة والسخرية الذاتية. كما أنه يكتب أيضًا بمحبة واضحة لأمريكا، وفي النهاية يتصالح مع وضعه كـ "غريب في أرض غريبة".
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Funny, thought-provoking. Listening to the audio - read by the author, of course! - in 2023, I do think it has aged well since publication more than two decades ago. Obviously much about our society (and certainly technology) has changed, but much has also stayed the same. Bryson is always a treat!
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