Black Swan, London, 1998

It is no exaggeration, if it says on the cover, this is one of Bryson´s best books. In fact, I would say, it is his best, as far as I know.

And it´s such a good, hilarious read; everybody, who has ever been to the States or plans to go there, should read this book. Bryson lived in England for 20 years, and then returned to his native America with his British wife. So he is in the singular position to understand perfectly how this country runs or is run and on the other hand he eyes it as a  perfect stranger.

And strange things come to his eyes and mind. You can´t stop laughing, so it´s hard physical work to read what he finds out. But as the stories are a collection of weekly columns, which he wrote for a magazine, you don´t have to read them in one bite. Your diaphragm wouldn´t survive it.