First think I will say is that this isn't the book I would finish if I didn't have to, for university. I'm not saying that this book isn't good, I'm just saying that this book wasn't for me.

Second thing I will say is that I can't believe that I finally finished it. I don't think I've ever needed this much time to finish one book (and the book wasn't even that big).

I'm a Stranger Here Myself (or as it was released in England: Notes from a Big Country) is a collection of columns. When Bill Bryson moved to the United States he started writing columns for British newspapers, and those columns were later collected and put together into a book. And in these columns all Bryson did was moan, moan and (yeah you've guessed it!) moan. It was fun reading it at the beginning, but after few columns it just got annoying.

But one thing I liked about this book (and the reason I didn't give it one star) was the humor. Bryson have sarcastic and dark humor, and in few columns it showed and even made me laugh. If he used his humor more, I might have actually liked the book more.

Bill Bryson and I seem to be kindred spirits in the things we like and dislike about America. He likes diners and old motels, and while I've never been to either, I've always found them very romantic. He likes the trees turning vivid colours in autumn and how the people are so trusting, optimistic, and friendly. I wonder how he feels about Disneyland and Halloween. And the huge public libraries of even rural suburbs- delightful!

But he doesn't spare us from the ugly. In fact, I want to believe that he's grossly exaggerating the ugly or it's just too sad, like the huge shopping malls everywhere and trying to climate control all aspects of life by moving everything indoors. It just makes you think whether handing out candy to children in cute spooky costumes one night a year is worth being a part of the culture where people just don't walk anymore, they drive everywhere all the time. And nice authentic places are driven out of business because people just want things to be uniform and get the same product every time, like in McDonalds and Starbucks.

So I guess this book ought to be taken as comedy, and there were many times I laughed out loud, so it was good comedy even. But gosh, there's got to be some truth to it. Maybe I sound whiny but I blame Bill Bryson, who sounds like he's had it. And Wikipedia says that he lives in the UK now so I guess he really has had it.

Such a great read! I felt myself nodding and laughing out loud at Bryson’s comments on what an odd type of people and society Americans are and America has become. Some comments were sadly true, others were just hilarious. I’d be interested to see what he would say about the cell phone and social media culture of today.

I always enjoy a Bill Bryson book. This one is a bit different from his travel books as its generally short observations on life in the U.S. He compiled his columns that he was writing for a publication in Great Britain on life in America. In some places it's very very funny; however, since I have lived in the U.S. all of my life, some of it was just "old hat" for me. Sometimes you just need a light, funny book to read and his books will always fill that need!

I read this several years ago, so I have no idea what it was about. But I do know that I have LOVED every Bill Bryson book that I have ever even seen, let alone read.

I think Bill Bryson is very cool. I'd like him to be my neighbor. He could write stories about me. Like "I have this neighbor who stands in her garden and chats with her plants. She introduces the new ones when they arrive. She asks everybody how they are doing and if they are thirsty. Boy, she sure is a great lady." Ok, I don't remember if he even wrote stuff like that. But since I really like him, I like to think that if he was my neighbor he would.

Perhaps I got a little off topic here. I think it is because of the man (I'm at the library) right behind me who is coughing a lot. There's a lot of phlegm. I am struggling not to concentrate on that.

Contains such fascinating tidbits as:
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.

This isn't among my favourite Bryson books.Two decades after living in Britain,he decides to go back to the US with his English wife and children.After such a long time away,he feels disoriented and it shows.He is also not happy about the state of many things.I didn't enjoy it.

Love it a ton, so funny.

I thought this book had a lot of over assuming and generalizations; I didn't feel that Bryson's opinions had a lot of data to support them. Clearly he had not ventured to the parts of the USA that still have a slew of diners, motels and bed and breakfasts. His attempts at humor were far reaching and, while occasionally amusing, for the most part, dull. The parts about his children were touching. I don't understand why this particular guy got paid to share his views of America; there was nothing original about his ideas. He just sounded like another sub average complainer. He also referenced his trip in the Appalachians and I wonder how much duplication there was between the two books, having never and not wanting to ever read another of his. There were points during the book where even he acknowledged that he was rambling. Also, I feel that had I read it back when it was initially published it might have been more entertaining...15 years later the information was simply dated.

Second best Bill Bryson book.



The observer's role of returning traveler is written with style and wit. And with understatement - something that most Americans are not very good at.

A basic principle of travel-reading is that a Bill Bryson book will rarely let you down. It is a reliable companion if you want to have a jolly time. However, though it has many chuckles spread at a decent enough frequency in comparison with most other books, it suffers in comparison with masterworks like Notes from a Small Island or A walk in the woods.

According to my calculations, laugh-out-loud moments in Notes from a Big Country clocks in at around 0.000121 that of Notes from a Small Island. Is it because the Big Country is intrinsically less funny than the Small Island? No. As proved by the fact that according to expert statistical data, this book clocks in at 0.00003 that of A walk in the Woods, set in, you guessed it, the Big Country.

Then what is the cause of this anomaly for a writer who is so out of his depth anywhere that just the sight of him should throw you into fits of laughter? Well, it is because he didn't really want to write this book (or rather, the columns). He stumbled into it, as he makes clear upfront. He didn't have the time for it, and didn't intend to do justice to it. As a result, He just rambles on about random trivia that he found in other books or newspaper columns, mostly in New England... while, presumably, taking care of other stuff. And it shows.

Old man yells at cloud.