I'M A Stranger Here Myself

After living abroad for two decades, Bill Bryson recently moved back to the United States, with his English wife and four children. 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 Bryson's hallmarks, I'm a Stranger Here Myself recounts his sometimes-disconcerting reunion with his homeland. 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"). Scene by guffaw-inducing scene, Bill Bryson proves that there's truly no place like home, especially if it's in America.