Bill Bryson has the rare knack of being out of his depth wherever he goes - even (perhaps
especially) in the land of his birth. This became all too apparent when after nearly two
decades in England the world's best-loved travel writer upped sticks with Mrs Bryson little
Jimmy et al. and returned to live in the country he had left as a youth. Of course there were
things Bryson missed about Blighty but any sense of loss was countered by the joy of
rediscovering some of the forgotten treasures of his childhood: the glories of a New England
autumn the pleasingly comical sight of oneself in shorts and motel rooms where you can
generally count on being awakened in the night by a piercing shriek and the sound of a female
voice pleading 'Put the gun down Vinnie I'll do anything you say.' Whether discussing the
strange appeal of breakfast pizza or the jaw-slackening direness of American TV Bill Bryson
brings his inimitable brand of bemused wit to bear on that strangest of phenomena - the
American way of life.
