From perfectly formed potatoes to adulterous US presidents, and from domestic upsets to millennial fever, Bill Bryson just cannot resist airing his opinions and standing up for his (mostly) law-abiding fellow American citizens. But of course after twenty years in England, he is now back on the other side of the pond, and is obviously having a little trouble finding his true American self again.

After vigorous exercise on the Appalachian Trail comes this edited collection of Bryson`s most splenetic comic pieces culled from his humorous regular column in the Mail on Sunday.