I'm a Stranger Here Myself

Abridged
Author: Bill Bryson
Narrator: Bill Bryson
Genres: Biographies
Publisher: Random House (Audio)
Date: May 1999
Length: 6 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 4/5
Formats:
  • CD
  • iPod

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Overview

The master humorist and bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods now guides us on an affectionate, hysterically funny tour of America's most outrageous absurdities.

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 three 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. From motels ("one of those things--airline food is another--that I get excited about and should know better") to careless barbers ("in the mirror I am confronted with an image that brings to mind a lemon meringue pie with ears"), I'm a Stranger Here Myself chronicles the quirkiest aspects of life in America, right down to our hardware-store lingo, tax-return instructions, and vulnerability to home injury ("statistically in New Hampshire I am far more likely to be hurt by my ceiling or underpants than by a stranger").

Along the way Bill Bryson also reveals his rules for life (#1: It is not permitted to be both slow and stupid. You must choose one or the other); delivers the commencement address to a local high school ("I've learned that if you touch a surface to see if it's hot, it will be"); and manages to make friends with a skunk. 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.

Selected Reviews

Too much rant

by Steve Y
  • Book Rating: 2/5

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

by wlh2040
  • Book Rating: 4/5

More...

Read All 10

Reviews (10)

Too much rant

Written by Steve Y on June 19th, 2007

  • Book Rating: 2/5

In the past, I've enjoyed Bryson. But, this one was appropriately described by his wife as "bitch, bitch, bitch." It gets old, especially when he is trashing our (and his) country and in particular his disparaging remark concerning one of our greatest presidents. And he compares us to Great Britian?...where you have to have a license for a TV set---please. His Darwinist, liberal agenda becomes more and more pronounced with each selection. I understand he moved back to England. Good.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

Written by wlh2040 from Miami, FL on July 10th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 4/5

This was classic Bill Bryson! I'd love to have this guy as my next-door neighbor! Sometimes, he just points out the obvious, or asks questions about things that people just generally never consider asking. His humor is droll, but in a good way. Some of the other reviews observed that toward the end he tended to complain a bit. While this is true, I cannot imagine having to author a newspaper column for three years about the differences between these United States and Britain. Eventually, you are forced to conclude there simply aren't that many differences (not three years worth, anyway). If you have read any of his other books, you will love this one as well. Occasionally, he does tend to insert his politically left-leaning viewpoints on things, but then the poor soul did live in a much more socialist country for 20 years...

Amusing

Written by Alison Kaplan on June 7th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 3/5

I hadn't read or heard of Bryson before this and wasn't sure what to expect. At times his storytelling was laugh out loud funny and for the most part I enjoyed his point of view. I lived in England for a year, so I could relate, but ultimately I think this is best listened to in small doses. I found that after an hour his attitude started to wear on me. Although I enjoy a sense of humor that is on the dry and sarcastic side, his attitude also started to take on a negativity and curmudgeonly tone that bothered me at points.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

Written by Charles Black from Austell, GA on May 26th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 4/5

Bryson has a dry sense of humor that I find entertaining. This is a good look at ourselves. After I heard this book I started back on A Walk in the Woods, and am enjoying it this time.

This Guy is Sick............and I Just Can't Get Enough of Him

Written by Tonytoga from Houston, TX on February 7th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 3/5

By 'sick' of course, I mean his has a twisted since of humor and if I could buy his illness with money, I'd take out a loan if I had to to get it. Bill Bryson peers out at the world through a differently cut glass than the rest of us and this, his 'coming home' tone is vintage Bryson. I loved the way he always refers to his wife as "Mrs. Bryson." It's a British thing I'm sure. This isn't his best work in my opinion (hard to be beat "In a Sunburned Country") but it's cleaverly written and is, I think, a good reflection of our Mr. Bryson arriving at a more mature age.

A distant third in Bryson books I've listened to

Written by Anonymous on July 22nd, 2005

  • Book Rating: 3/5

I would rank this as a distant third behind "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and "A Walk in the Woods". Some of the insights are funny but many are kind of dated and cliche. The self described (or more accurately wife described) "bitching" gets pretty old towards the end of the book. Still probably worth a listen but not nearly as good as the first two books I mentioned.

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

Written by Anonymous from Franconia, NH on July 21st, 2005

  • Book Rating: 4/5

This was a great book, if you have read anything else by Bill Bryson it is one of his good ones, although all of his are good ones in my book. He makes you think, laugh, cry. A great book, I would recommend it to anyone, easy to listen to.

i'm a stranger here myself

Written by Anonymous from Chapel Hill, NC on April 27th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 3/5

I had a hard time getting started with this one. I had just come out of surgery and maybe that was it.

Amusing Insight

Written by JackFrei from Albuquerque, NM on February 17th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 5/5

I really enjoyed Bill Bryson's insight into various phases of American life which we tend to take for granted. He is in the perfect position to poke fun at some of the most venerable American traditions, being an American himself, but having lived outside of the US for many years. They say you can never go back; he proves that you really can, as long as you have a sense of humour. Loved the insight and the narration.

"I'm a Stranger Her Myself"

Written by Anonymous on January 27th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I enjoyed the book very much. It is a very pleasant episodic look at life in the U.S., with a mix of affection and mild indignation that makes you think, along with some laughs of recognition at the ironies and foibles of life in America. A very engaging listening experience that made me want more.

Selected Reviews

Too much rant

by Steve Y
  • Book Rating: 2/5

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

by wlh2040
  • Book Rating: 4/5

More...

Read All 10

Author Details

Author Details

Bryson, Bill

"Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. A backpacking expedition in 1973 brought him to England where he met his wife and decided to settle. He wrote for the English newspapers The Times and The Independent for many years, writing travel articles to supplement his income. He lived with his family in North Yorkshire before moving back to the States in 1995, to Hanover, New Hampshire, with his wife and four children. In 2003 he and his family moved back to England, where they currently reside.

The Lost Continent, Bill Bryson's hilarious first travel book, chronicles a trip in his mother's Chevy around small town America. Since then, he has written several more about the UK and the US, including notable bestsellers, A Walk in the Woods, I'm A Stranger Here Myself (published in Britain as Notes from a Big Country), and In a Sunburned Country (published in Britain as Down Under).

His other books include Bill Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe, Made in America, The Mother Tongue and Bill Bryson's African Diary. His latest book, A Short History of Nearly Everything, was published in Spring 2003."