NOTES FROM A BIG COUNTRY

 Author – Bill Bryson

Publisher – Doubleday, Year – 1998, Pages 318

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Excerpts :

(1) “For Years, especially when the children were small and capable of anything, my wife left me to the garden. Occasionally she would step out to ask what I was doing, and I would have to confess that I was dusting some weedy looking things with an unknown powdery substance which I had found in the garage and which I was pretty confident was either nitrogen or cement mix.”

(2) “It would be almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of cup-holders in American automotive circles these days. The New York Times recently ran a long article in which it tested a dozen family cars. It rated each of the for ten features, such as engine size, boot space, handling, quality of suspension, and, yes, number of cup-holders. A car dealer acquaintance of ours tells us that they are one of the first things people remark on, ask about or play with when they come to look at a car. People buy cars on the basis of cup-holders. “

(3) “The other day I was in a little nearby town called Etna waiting to bring home one of my children from a piano lesson when a car stopped outside the local post office and a man about my age popped out and dashed inside (and left the motor running – something else that exercises me inordinately). He was inside for about three or four minutes, then came out, got in the car and drove exactly 16 feet (I had nothing better to do so I paced it off) to the general store next door, and popped in again, engine still running.”

(4) “Some weeks ago I announced to my wife that I shall accompany her to the supermarket the next time she went because the stuff she brought home was not fully in the spirit of American eating. Here we were living in a paradise of junk food – such as cheese in a spray can – and she kept bringing home healthy stuff like fresh broccoli and packets of Ryvita. She being English, didn’t really understand the rich, unrivaled possibilities for greasiness and goo that the American diet offers.”

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My Take : The author has come back in 1995 to live in the USA after 20 years stay in Britain. He finds some American customs, way of life, their whims etc hilarious as compared to the British. All told in a very humorous way. The author does some leg pulling of self and others.

          Bill Bryson has a very interesting way of telling things, which gives you a vivid picture of  USA and the American way of life of the period.

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Subject / Type – Reminiscences

Narrative  Style – Excellent

Readability – Excellent

Maintaining Readers Interest – Excellent

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