Notes from a Big Country

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Here's a fact for you. According to the latest "Abstract of the UnitedStates", every year more than 400,00 Americans suffer injuries involving beds,mattresses or pillows...That is more people than live in greater Coventry. That is almost 2,000 bed, mattress orpillow injuries a day. In the time it takes you to read this article, four Americans will somehow manage tobe wounded by their bedding.

Fans of Bill Bryson will know by now that this isthe kind of completely useless information that gets him excited. In fact, you are unlikely to read anyone else who derivesquite so much pleasure from meaningless statistics. If those statistics are about the USA (Bryson's homeland) or his adoptedEngland--or even better, comparing one to the other--then he is in heaven. And it is not only the uselessness of theinformation that interests him, but also the fact that Americans spend millions of dollars and hours each yearcollecting such data together.

Though not a match for his earlier success of Notesfrom a Small Island, Notes from a Big Country takes a good second place. It collects together more than 18 monthsworth of Mail on Sunday columns which Bryson wrote between October 1996 and May 1998 after he and his English wife andchildren returned to the US and settled in New England. The only thing that outshines his amazement--and sometimes,outright dismay--at the way American society has changed while he's been away, is his English-born family's instantembracing of transatlantic culture.

A word of warning: reading Bill Bryson is not aspectator sport...you are invited-- in fact, compelled--to marvel at how the nation that "has the largest economy, the mostcomfortably off people, the best research facilities, many of the finest universities and think-tanks, and more NobelPrize winners than the rest of the world put together" could be the same nation where "13 per cent of women cannot say whether they wear their tights under their knickers or over them. That's something like 12 million women walkingaround in a state of chronic foundation garment uncertainty." This is Bryson at his best, and though not every column inchhits the heady heights of underwear distribution, there are enough laugh-out-loud moments to keep you satisfied.

Detractors of Bryson's work complain all his booksare the same, yet dedicated followers cite that very uniformity of style and subject as the reason they return, book after book. Anyone disappointed by A Walk in the Woods (Bryson's account of hiking the Appalachian Trail and not his best book) will have their faith restored by Notes from a Big Country--here Bryson returns to his favourite subject and the simple, journalistic prose that makes his wacky facts and observations instantly accessible.

Bryson does not pretend to deliver an intellectual treatise on the state of mankind; instead he offers one man's take on how humanity lurches from one day to another--ironically through the kinds of details he mocks others for collecting--Lucie Naylor

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Customer reviews

review by: Sizbat date: 2008-06-20 rating:
Sheer brilliance
This is guaranteed to put a smile on virtually anyone's face.

Bryson's dry humour & witty observations of life's absurdity coupled with Kerry Shale's excellent delivery make this an easy winner.

The basic material is also very interesting so a wining combination all round.

I had this in the car & found myself sitting listening to it long after I had arrived at my destination - it's that good!

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review by: gaskella2 date: 2008-04-14 rating:
One of our fave honorary Brits goes home for a bit ...
Another tome of brilliantly sparkling gems from Bill Bryson. What I found funniest was that his wife and family, all born and raised in England, appeared to find American life like being let loose in a toyshop - reveling in becoming optimistic Americans. Whereas our Bill has absorbed so much Britishness in his twenty years here he has become an honorary Brit! This makes his exasperation with queuing, bad shop assistants, and bureaucracy of the US kind even funnier than ever. In some of the columns he tries to be more positive and these, as he admits, are the more sentimental. Would that each of the pieces were double the length though - I got through the pages just too fast.

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review by: beetrootrabbit date: 2007-10-01 rating:
Great read!
This title was chosen by my book club as this month's title & I was dreading reading it, as my previous encounter with Mr Bryson was 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' which I hated. I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It has many laugh out loud moments like Bill's hatred of the barbers & love of motels & the US Postal Services' Customer Day. The 4 page chapters are ideal as he get's to cover a wide range of topics. From reading this I will definitely try some of Bryson's other titles. A great read.

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review by: date: 2007-08-09 rating:
A very funny, very clever, very snappy read.
Bill Bryson has a somewhat unique point of view for writing a book on American life, born in America but living a long time in England before returning to America with his English wife and children. The result was a regular series of newspaper articles (unsure what newspaper) which are collected together here.
The articles are observant, witty, and wonderfully funny. Bryson is so normal and easy to relate to that the articles are infectiously funny, his strange obsessions and neuroses are not only hilarious but also quite sweet and infinitely endearing. His unique take on American life is what really drives the book since there's no continuous narrative of any kind due to the episodic structure.
I can't really describe the book in any particular detail except to say that this is something very funny that more than once an article is guaranteed to cripple you with laughter. You should really give this a try, you won't regret it.


review by: date: 2007-06-13 rating:
Glad i live in Britain.
Bill Bryson is a genius writer and yet again he has delivered entertainment and boredom relief in this book.I read it in a succession of three quarter hour work breaks - and the four page bite size chapters(78 in all)are ideal as you can always finish looking forward to a new chapter the next time you pick the book up.
Each story was originally an weekly article for a newspaper that Bill was roped into writing - but he will refer back to previous chapters as the book progresses.
The hilarious stories are about the frustrations and exasperation's and idiosyncrasies of living in the USA compared to when he lived here in the UK.Bill almost underplays himself making you realize that despite his fame and fortune he is a normal down to earth guy who struggles in life just like you and i.....Fantastic!.I'm gonna read another Bill Bryson book now!....whey hey!.

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