I'M A STRANGER HERE MYSELF Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away

William Roberts is a fitting choice to narrate Bryson's essays, written upon his return to the U.S. after having lived in England for two decades. Roberts aptly expresses the author's continual incredulity as he encounters the mysteries that have changed American culture in the intervening years (1979-1999). Bryson tries to make sense of absurdities like junk food, shopping catalogs, malls, garbage disposals, immigration snafus, moose, frigid winters, Christmas, and New England’s dense wilderness. Roberts manages to sound struck anew by those absurdities, exuding fresh bouts of sarcasm and irony with each one. His booming deliveries of quoted pronouncements are hilarious. However, some references are dated, such as Bryson's gripes with desktop computers. Nonetheless, Bryson delights with his clever musings, thorough research, and clever insights. A.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2012]