• I'm a Stranger Here Myself

  • Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away
  • By: Bill Bryson
  • Narrated by: Bill Bryson
  • Length: 5 hrs and 54 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (736 ratings)

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I'm a Stranger Here Myself  By  cover art

I'm a Stranger Here Myself

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Bill Bryson
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Publisher's summary

A classic from the New York Times best-selling 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 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, 24-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 20 years away.

©1999 Bill Bryson (P)1999 Random House, Inc.

What listeners say about I'm a Stranger Here Myself

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

So disappointed. This book was phoned in

Bill Bryson wrote one of my favorite books: “A Brief History of Nearly Everything”, and I’ve enjoyed many others he’s authored. The research evident on his books is extensive and impressive. Not so this one. Most of it seems like lazy ramblings, and there is no cohesiveness to the narrative. I think he needed to get something out quick to pay some bills. Don’t waste your time, read the one above or A Walk in the Woods if you haven’t already.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A fairly annoying book

While I typically enjoy reading Bryson's books, this one was a struggle to finish. Why? Because all he did was complain about life in America. I didn't mind his criticisms, but it just became overwhelmingly negative after a while. If you have have a friend who is always pessimistic and complaining then you know what I'm talking about.

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