I've been on a Bryson kick lately, re-reading Made in America and One Summer: America, 1927, and listening to a collection of his various BBC appearances over the years. He has a unique perspective on Americana: born and raised in Des Moines, he's spent most of his adult life in England but recently has been back and forth enough to feel like a "suave cosmopolitan"... and he's very funny.
But this is one of his serious moments:
“Take a moment from time to time to remember that you are alive. I know this sounds a trifle obvious, but it is amazing how little time we take to remark upon this singular and gratifying fact. By the most astounding stroke of luck an infinitesimal portion of all the matter in the universe came together to create you and for the tiniest moment in the great span of eternity you have the incomparable privilege to exist.”
― Bill Bryson, I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away
I'm looking forward to diving into his latest:
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