I read about the recently published The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British by Sarah Lyall, and it sounded like something I would enjoy, similar to Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island, which I liked. Bryson's book was published over a decade ago, so I thought I'd give The Anglo Files a go. Perhaps something interesting has happened over there since then.Lyall, an American and a correspondent for the New York Times, lives in London with her British husband their two daughters. The book is just what one expects: a chronicle of living among those wacky people across the pond who say "sorry" all the time and eat baked beans for breakfast.
The Anglo Files is so chock-full of information, including the use of footnotes at the bottom of the page, that I often felt Lyall was pummeling me to make her point. Example after example of the bad-boy behavior of members of Parliament, for instance. Enough already. I get it.
The writing is witty, in a snarky way. And I did enjoy the index. I could just imagine readers consulting it to find entries like "genitalia, named for German chancellors." But, I just did not like this book.
To figure out why, I reread some of Bryson's Notes from a Small Island. Smiling and laughing from the beginning, I found my answer. The Anglo Files is indeed similar to Bryson, without the affection and charm.
You know what to read.
