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

Author: Bill Bryson

Narrator: Bill Bryson

Abridged: 5 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/05/2000


Synopsis

A classic from the New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods and The Body.

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.

Author Bio

Bill Bryson's bestselling books include One Summer, A Short History of Nearly Everything, At Home, A Walk in the Woods, Neither Here nor There, Made in America, and The Mother Tongue. He lives in England with his wife.

Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by ELR on 2007-04-26 20:48:21

I'm a stranger here myself - really: was neither born nor raised in the US of A. Therefore, I could certainly relate to some of Bryson's experiences and anecdotes. While most chapters are (at least) somewhat funny and Bryson's prose flows and makes an easy read, I found myself skipping whole pages after a while. Once you get through half the book, you can pretty much guess the rest of the chapters from the first paragraph of each.

AudiobooksNow review by Merredith on 2010-07-27 11:08:31

Some parts of this book were funny, but mostly it was just boring. I never finished the book, and what i did read, i skimmed through or skipped a lot of it. i just didnt like his writing style. it was dull. and weird too, because i grew up in NH and i felt like he was trying to make NH sound different than it was, like some hokey kitschy place. granted, i grew up in southern NH not up in his town, but ok it is modern times, OF COURSE we locked things. How could we NOT lock things esp our house? ...more Some parts of this book were funny, but mostly it was just boring. I never finished the book, and what i did read, i skimmed through or skipped a lot of it. i just didnt like his writing style. it was dull. and weird too, because i grew up in NH and i felt like he was trying to make NH sound different than it was, like some hokey kitschy place. granted, i grew up in southern NH not up in his town, but ok it is modern times, OF COURSE we locked things. How could we NOT lock things esp our house? and my parents, who still live there, hardly know their neighbors and some not at all. i think he was making everything sound more quaint for his audience. But overall, very boring and i couldnt make myself finish it.

AudiobooksNow review by Readerlady on 2011-02-18 16:42:22

Mr Bryson has the gift! Hilarious descriptions and observations. Reading this gives a new perspective when looking at ourselves. A wonderful read.