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Summary: A great scope of humorous interests
Review: Bryson always has the ability to find humor and insight in something most would pass by as irrelevant. His essays are 'on spot" and thoroughly enjoyable reading.
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Summary: Not one of his travel books but okay
Review: After Bill Bryson returned to America he wrote a column for an English newspaper about his experiances. These columns have been collected togeher to make up this book. Thus the book is not one of his travel books as such.The articles are written for an English market and most of them make gentle jokes about America and how different it is from England. There are discussions about shoping malls, drug policy and a range of other things. In general it is classic Bill Bryson with most of the articles being very funny and also most containing acute observations about the American culture. Some Americans may not like the book as the articles sometimes are a little critical and are destined for reading behind the irony curtain.
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Summary: No Stranger to Laughter
Review: "Oh, what the heck? I liked 'A Walk in the Woods,' so let's see if this is any good." That was my line of thinking as I checked out this book from my local library. On the way home, I opened the cover (akin to opening a bag of my favorite chips) and sampled a bite. And another. Soon, I was eight chapters into the thing, wiping tears from my eyes to the amusement of my wife and children. Then, the ultimate test: I read a page out loud to my wife. Now I'm not intimating that she has any laughter inhibitions--she'll laugh up a storm within the first minutes of a good comedy flick--but to subject her to oral readings is to watch her mood take a serious downswing. Must be the expectation levels I project. ("Come on, honey, don't you get it? Are you listening?") Test results: A+ Next thing I knew, I was fighting my wife for moments to gobble down another chapter or two. No kidding. Bill Bryson, in his inimitable manner, adds punch and humor to subjects normally as tastless as...well, as week-old chips. He pinpoints the lunacies in our daily routine, the frustrations of red-tape, and the nostalgia of yesteryear. He makes me wonder why we Americans behave in such ways, then leaves me shaking my head at the idea of living anywhere else. We're all strangers, in one way or another, in this diverse land of ours. And that's just it...it's our crazy kaleidoscope of ideas and customs that make us the colorful nation we are. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Thanks, Bill, for helping me let off some steam so that I can fall in love with this place all over again.
Rating: 
Summary: Bill Bryson sells his soul for a writer's advance check
Review: Bill Bryson is a funny writer - but lately he has franchised himself and over extended his abilities. This is a collection of fairly predictable, albeit sometimes funny, newspaper articles he wrote for a local newspaper. Nothing is original and nothing hits home on the mark... it's like your cantankerous uncle came home drunk and started blathering on about nothing.
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Summary: Quirky, curmudgeon's take on returning to America after 20 y
Review: Personally, I found Bryson's books "A Walk in the Woods", and "In a Sunburned Country" better. One of the enjoyable things about Bryson's travel books is that it is so easy to disagree with him. What I mean by that is most travel writers are wishy-washy and state things in a neutral, innocuous and boring way. You can always tell what Bryson thinks, and agree or disagree, I like it that way. If you want a vague account of natural beauty or accounts stating some boring museum is "educational", this book is not for you. In this book specifically, you get to hear some of Bryson's thoughts on politics and culture in general. He has absorbed a little too much liberal, socialism, but I still enjoy his fine eye for detail. Overall, not his best, but still enjoyable.
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Summary: Bill Bryson makes writing seem easy
Review: I just loved this book, as I did all the others by Bill Bryson. He pokes a lot of fun at his fellow countrymen. I saw some harsh jugements with some of the other reviewers. I can understand that. It's difficult when someone holds a mirror in your face and you get to see yourself ín a way that you don't like. I recently bought and read a book written by two Americans about the Dutch and their habits (I am Dutch). I didn't always like what they had to say but everything they said was true and it was extremely funny.
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Summary: Laughing Out Loud
Review: I have only laughed out loud a handful of times while reading books -- Catch 22, the Milagro Beanfield Wars, I Should Have Stayed Home. By nature, I'm just not a big laugher. But I must tell you, while reading "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" I laughed all the time, even when I was the only one in the room. This is a charming and insightful book made up of the keen observations and musings of a man who deeply cares about the life around him -- plus he happens to be funny as hell. I cannot relate to others' criticisms of the book. It's like eating mint chip ice cream -- and who can complain about that.
Rating: 
Summary: mostly amusing
Review: "I'm a Stranger Here Myself", a collection of short essays written for a British audience about returning to the States after many years abroad, is mostly entertaining and amusing. There are a few points where the author misses the point, or pontificates for just too long, but there are just as many times when I found myself laughing out loud. The book is perhaps funniest to other Americans who have lived overseas for some period of time, and are now attempting to get used to American life again.
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Summary: We Are Not Amused...
Review: At one point in Bill Bryson's "I'm a Stranger Here Myself...," the author's wife proclaims "You're always complaining in that column." I couldn't agree more. While some may be amused by the constant and often unwarranted grumblings of an unappreciative 40-something, I found myself searching hard for traces of humor and wit. Comprised of a series of articles on "life in the US" written for a British newspaper upon his return to the States after 20 years in England, Bryson's book comes off as a whiny oversimplification of situations that are generally not funny and oftentimes barely even mildly amusing. While the book contains brief moments of truly clever humor, it is largely filled with exaggerated accounts of Bryson's inability to cope with life in general (I have the feeling that he didn't do much better in Merry Old England). Bryson's articles hint that Americans are over-stimulated, unappreciative, under-educated clods who don't hold a candle to the British. After several chapters, this becomes increasingly annoying. Many of the essays deal with situations or sentiments that simply are not true of life in the U.S. In his rants about the IRS and state and Federal budgets, it is clear that he doesn't have a clue what he is talking about - and the end result is just not funny. I have lived abroad myself and cannot help but feel that Bryson was shamelessly pandering to his British audience when he wrote these articles. I skipped many of the essays because they were too whiney, too annoying or too off the mark. I was truly disappointed by this book, especially since I had heard how funny and witty Bryson is -- perhaps his abilities are not properly highlighted in "I'm a Stranger Her Myself." I found this book to be a collection of boring complaints and meaningless commentary on mundane and oft-times wrongly portrayed aspects of supposed life in the United States. He states at one point in the book that he doesn't "understand most things." No kidding. Maybe if he knew what he was talking about, he could inject some more humor into his writing. Or maybe his wife should give writing a try...
Rating:
Summary: Quite shallow but plenty of excellent bits
Review: Bryson is a funny writer, you know this. This is, strictly speaking, not a book: it is a collection of Mr Bryson's columns written for a Sunday newspaper in UK. This puts certain limitations: the author has to keep his stories brief (not necessarily a bad thing, but prevents him from looking deeper into anything), AND - what is much worse - Bryson shamelessly uses British stereotypes about Americans. There is not much value in this: it is a basic newspaper columnist trade, putting popular talk into snappy language. There are, however, many brilliant Brysonesque passages with insightful observations that make the book worth the money. Despite style which is mildly repetitive and thus irritating and flashes of hypocrisy (making a fortune out of his books does not prevent Mr Bryson from denouncing the system which pays him and which he exploits so skillfully), the book makes a pleasant read. Sometimes it feels that Bryson should have been a stand-up comedian. However, Bryson's TV series broadcast in UK, based on his book about Britain ("Notes from the Small Island"), was a sad flop and yes, he should stick with writing - but not newspaper columns.
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