Wow. I really like this book so far. As an American I feel that one some level I should be offended (maybe?) but Bill Bryson is just so hilarious! In fact, humor is his main tactic in telling his homecoming story. Bryson utilizes humor to emphasize the differences between Britain and America (which are naturally humorous themselves).
In his introduction, Bill Bryson gives his readers some background on what the story entails, and how indeed he came about the process of writing on his experience. He explains that he lived in America for most of his life and moved to Britain about 20 years prior to this book-inspiring event. Bryson’s account of the situation is, well, let’s just say I need to check a thesaurus (hilarious, comical, chuckle-inspiring. There, I’m good.) Bryson was speaking to an old friend from London who was asking him to write a weekly article on America. In the following anecdote, Bryson uses his account of the conversation to explain that he was roped into the concept. It doesn’t seem to be a big regret though, so he made out just fine.
Bryson introduces the concept of this book as a collection of his articles on America after returning from his second-homeland Britain. I quite enjoyed the quirky style which added to the overall chuckle-inspiring (see what I did there?) tone of the book. Using the newspaper articles as the core of the book gave it a sort of care-free nature. Bryson isn’t criticizing America, and I think, like I said in the beginning of this post, some people could be offended in thinking this. The use of style in this book makes the topic, which could be controversial, lightweight.
Bryson overall is a very funny man. His lighthearted reflection in the style of news articles is funny and light, avoiding offending anyone. I can NOT WAIT to read the rest.
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