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

Details

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

Author: Bill Bryson

Format: Paperback, Abridged-CD

Publisher: Bantam Dell Pub Group

Published: Jun 2000

Genre: Biography & Autobiography - General

Retail Price: $19.00

Pages: 288

Synopsis

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.

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Reviews

BookLender 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.

BookLender 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.

BookLender 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.