Bill Bryson - I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away

Pros: easy to read, good structure, uproariously funny
Cons: a couple of less than stellar columns, some people won't "get it"

Bill Bryson is an American writer, originally from Iowa. For twenty years he lived in England with his British wife and their four kids. In the late 90’s, they decided to move to the States, and he settled in the town of Hanover, New Hampshire where ...

Pros: Bryson's usual wit, style, and humorously incisive observations...
Cons: ... with the occasional overdone joke.

Bill Bryson is part travel-writer and part social commentator. In N otes from a Small Island, he turned his eye toward his adopted home of Britain, his place of residence for almost two decades. The results ...

Pros: Funny and irreverent look at all things American, and more
Cons: Sometimes a bit predictable

I am not sure why I had never really read Bryson before. Perhaps because of the annoying experience of having too many people put his books on my desk, telling me “You’ve got to read this!”. One of my French postdocs gave me this book a while ...

Pros: A very funny book about America today.
Cons: One must appreciate understated humor.

I’d rather wake up in the United States of America than any other place on earth. The U.S.A. is a great place to be for most Americans, even with all its faults. As Woody Guthrie put it: “From California...to the New York islands…this land ...

Pros: funny, short chapters
Cons: British humor? is that bad? no blog

You know you have been blogging too long and too hard when in the middle of enjoying a good book, you wish you could leave a comment for the author. What? No comment box? How am I supposed to connect with you? I want to feel like I am a part of your wit! ...

Pros: British American humor, provides funny insights into American ideosyncracies.
Cons: 14 USD is hefty for a paperback.

Did you know that 2000 Americans get injured a day by beds, matrasses and pillows ? Want to join the guy that is wondering HOW they do that ? Meet Bill Bryson, who returned from England to the States and wrote weekly columns about his observations in the ...

Pros: Hilarious hard look at American bourgeoise behavior.
Cons: Easy, effortless essay style of writing will illicit envy.

Bill Bryson, author of "Notes for a Small Island" and "A Walk in the Woods" published these notes in 1999 after moving back to Hanover, New Hampshire, after spending 20 years in the UK. The book is a collection of essays Bryson wrote for his friend ...

Pros: Very Funny, Short Chapters, good read when you have spare minute.
Cons: I wanted more...that is not really a con though..

This book is great. It does not read like a traditional story. Instead it is a composite of a bunch of articles that Mr. Bryson wrote for a British newspaper after returning to America after living in Britain for 20 or so years. Each chapter reads as a separate article that he wrote for the paper. The chapters are very short and sometimes he makes connections to previous articles or chapters.

I thought this book was hilarious. If you enjoy the humor of the show Sienfeld each chapter of this book reads as a basis for a Sienfeld episode. That is the best way I can describe it. The reason for this is because he makes humor out of situations that every American faces.

There are so many great chapters in this book. Some of my most memorable topics include: toothpaste hotline, tax forms, experiencing the outdoors indoors, technology, and many others.

In conclusion if you like the humor of the show Sienfeld you must read this book. If you do not care for that show then pass up on this book.