Im a Stranger Here Myself Bryson, Bill

I once joked in a book that there are three things you can't do in life. You can't beat the phone company, you can't make a waiter see you until he is ready to see you, and you can't go home again. Since the spring of 1995, I have been quietly, even gamely, reassessing point number three. (from the first line)

A compassionate, hilarious tour of the United States explores the quirky side of life in America, from airline food to tax returns, from the perspective of a world traveler who has lived abroad for two decades. By the author of A Walk in the Woods. Reprint. *Author: Bryson, Bill *Subtitle: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away *Publication Date: 2000/07/01 *Number of Pages: 288 *Binding Type: Paperback *Language: English *Depth: 0.75 *Width: 5.25 *Height: 8.00

From the Publisher:
Delivering the brilliant comic musings that are Bryson's hallmarks, I'M A STRANGER HERE MYSELF recounts his sometimes-disconcerting reunion with his homeland....[It] chronicles the quirkiest aspects of life in America, right down to our hardware-store lingo, tax-return instructions, and vulnerability to home injury....Scene by guffaw-inducing scene, Bill Bryson proves that there's truly no place like home, especially if it's in America.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.

Annotation:
Bill Bryson lived in Britain for 20 years, then returned with his family to the U.S. Here he writes about the process of re-entry--the shocks, the adjustments, the excesses, and (especially) the funny bits.

Author Bio

Bill Bryson

Born in Des Moines in 1951, Bill Bryson left for England in 1973 between semesters at Drake University. What began as a summer abroad became a 20-year sojourn: he got married and started a family, and began a career in journalism, taking writing posts at the Times and the Independent. He also laid the foundations for what would become a highly successful travel-writing career. Returning to the United States in 1989, Bryson chronicled an inspired visitation of the family vacations of his youth, which resulted in THE LOST CONTINENT. At first wary of Bryson's often self-deprecating and wry humor, critics have since been won over by his consistency, energy, and humor. He has produced a number of travelogues, all with his hallmark wit and attention to detail. In addition to his writings on travel, Bryson has also written and contributed to texts on language. Often ranked with Theroux and company--and sporting his own fan club--Bryson lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with his family.

Product Attributes

Book Format:		Paperback
Number of Pages:		0304
Publisher:		Broadway Books

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I'm a Stranger Here Myself Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away (Paperback)

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