Bryson is an American who spent 20 years in the UK before returning to the US and writing weeklu columns for Brits aboutthe various inanities of American life. I was very hopeful for this book, based on the reviews as well as my prejudice in favor of the material, but the delivery was only so-so. About half of it is general stuff not particular to Americans at all and about half the rest is fairly banal and not insightful at all. I was hoping for a turnabout on Maloney but was disappointed. But it's not crap. Read it with mild expectations and you may be happy.

Fascinating history of the English language, liberally peppered with explanations of quirks and assorted oddities. Fascinating to me, anyway. Easy to read. If you think "geez, that must be so boring," then it probably will be.