Happily, I'm a Stranger Here Myself unleashes a new Bryson, more contemplative and less likely to toss daggers. After two decades in England, he's relocated to Hanover, New Hampshire. In this collection (drawn from dispatches for London's Night & Day magazine), he's writing from home, in close proximity to wife and family. We find a happy marriage between humor and reflection as he assesses life both in New England and in the contemporary United States. With the telescopic perspective of one who's stepped out of the American mainstream and come back after 20 years, Bryson aptly holds the mirror up to U.S. culture, capturing its absurdities--such as hotlines for dental floss, the cult of the lawsuit, and strange American injuries such as those sustained from pillows and beds. "In the time it takes you to read this," he writes, "four of my fellow citizens will somehow manage to be wounded by their bedding."

The book also reflects the sweet side of small-town USA, with columns about post-office parties, dining at diners, and Thanksgiving--when the only goal is to "get your stomach into the approximate shape of a beach ball" and be grateful. And grateful we are that the previously peripatetic Bryson has returned to the U.S., turning his eye to this land--while living at home and near his wife. Under her benevolent influence, he entertains through thoughtful insights, not sarcastic stabs. --Melissa Rossi

Product Description
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.

This book is about America, about consumerism, hypocracy, politics, culture and everything else in between, such as motels and boring interstate highways and the condition of AT&T service these days. Why should all this be so interesting? Because Bill Bryson's voice shines throughout, dissecting normally more complex subjects into bite-sized articles which are eminently readable to the extent that it is at times impossible to stop. Of course, his trademark humour is present too. If you read this in public, there is the risk of embarrassment by your involuntary snorts of laughter.

However, 'I'm a Stranger here Myself' isn't perfect. Much of the book is predictable, and 85% of the time, Bill appears to be complaining. Someone as talented as Bill Bryson should know not to engage in such indulgence because the end result is that the reader occassionally feels frustrated over the ostensible monotony. You also can't help but feel that an assemblage of brief columns is not enough to make a book.

Although this book is not standard Bill Bryson fare, it still manages to excel. It really is exceptionally enlightening, to read what he has to say subsequent to spending 20 years in England. He compares the contrasts between the two nations and questioning so many aspects of life that Americans take for granted, such as driving from shop to shop when they are merely footsteps apart, or the blatant excesses of junk food. Each article (in my edition, Black Swan) covers only five pages so they are very easy to get into.

If you are an American, perhaps you will enjoy this book more than anyone else as you will undoubtedly find it compelling to look into the views of an outsider in the process of 'assimilation'.

'I'm a Strange here Myself' doesn't feel like a book, more like a colelction of columns binded together. If you are willing to accept this, it is an extremely rewarding, insightful and refreshingly diverting read. This is enough to gain a hearty recommendation.


Some parts of this book are classic Bryson, others not!   January 17, 2000
 34 out of 39 found this review helpful

This book, which consists of columns Bryson wrote for an English paper after moving to the US, is a mixed success, in my eyes. Bryson is one of my favorite authors, and some pieces were classic, classic Bryson---so funny you really do laugh out loud for a good long while! I liked best the pieces on pop culture---diners, motels, TV, dieting, etc. However, a few pieces were about subjects you can read about in almost any newspaper editorial any day of the week---government waste and stupidity, how hard tax returns are to prepare, and the overactive legal system, to name some. I found those pieces were not really done as well---they could have been written by any skilled writer and did not have the distinctive Bryson voice. Maybe this is because they were not written for an American audience originally, and maybe those topics are not as overdone in England. Overall I still did like this book a lot, although I think I would have liked better something that was less a collection of thoughts and more a real tale of coming back to America, from a more personal viewpoint.


Planning A Long Car Trip? Take Bill Bryson Along!!!   June 30, 1999
 20 out of 23 found this review helpful

Some books simply do not translate well to the spoken word. But, fortunately for those of us whose work requires extensive car travel, some do. Two things make Bill Bryson's latest, I'm A Stranger Here Myself, a particularly wonderful diversion for the asphalt-addled road warrior; 1) The author, with his distinctive Midwestern/English accent, reads the book, providing the necessary emphasis and inflection to get across the irony he intended; 2) The book is derived from a series of articles written for a British newspaper, so each "chapter" is a self-contained 10-15 minute essay that does not demand the continuity of attention that can often be difficult to achieve in the car.

Ostensibly, the book is a series of essays relating the author's impressions of the United States upon returning here to live after 20 years in England. In reality, though, the articles provide insight into the author's more general view of the world today. Readers of Mr. Bryson's A Walk in the Woods will note some familiar themes; Americans don't walk enough, America isn't really crowded when compared to the rest of the world, junk food is a blight on society, etc. His conversational writing style is perfect for this type of material.

While I can't say that I agree wholeheartedly with all of his views, (his clear disdain for Newt Gingrich and Ronald Reagan seems incongruous with many of his other views) each of the essays/articles is well thought out, and the majority deliver thought-provoking glimpses into the way we live our lives. In the entire collection, only the excruciating "Tax Form Instructions" falls completely flat.

Planning a car trip of 6 hours or more? Take Bill Bryson along!


Bryson In Warm & Witty Form   March 3, 2003
 11 out of 14 found this review helpful

I'm A Stranger Here Myself reflects the Bryson of latter years seen in "A Walk In The Woods" and "In a Sunburned Country." Wry, witty and full of good humour and laugh out loud moments.

I enjoyed this collection of his weekly columns very much. Bryson turned two years worth of weekly observations on American life done for an English periodical into this book. What informs Brits will delight Americans as Bryson explores American trends, small town life and his personal experiences as the expatriate returned with English bride and children in tow.

This collection runs the gamut. Bryson muses on the wonders of his hometown post office (with an annual customer appreciation day), American statistics pulled from the census (his piece on the number of us injured by our bedding -- sheets, pillows and spreads -- every year is a riot), travel over our vast expanses, his local coffee shop, his very own garden and English gardener (his wife), and very many other et ceteras.

This is an eclectic selection. Although in some places the American reader may find some articles over-explained (one has to keep in mind he was writing for a foreign audience), this is a very well written collection of short essays.

The confident Bryson humor is here, as well as his excellent use of language and sentence structure. Whereas I thought some of Bryson's early works tried for too much humor and sometimes seemed forced as well as overly sarcastic, here the author is content to share interesting thoughts and stories punctuated by yuks. This writer does have an engaging way with words. There are laugh-out-loud moments in the book and generally it is a very pleasant light diversion. Worth the read.


A duplication but with a different cover!   January 27, 2000
 9 out of 12 found this review helpful

Seems a rehash of his "Notes from a Big Country" book which came out the same year. The main difference appears to be the cover! I would rate that one 4 stars. I am giving this one just one star and that is for the new cover. If you have read Big Country, save your money.