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Stephen Fry has always loved America. In fact, he came very close to being born here. His fascination for the country and its people sees him embarking on an epic journey across America, visiting each of its fifty states to discover how such a huge diversity of people, cultures, languages, and beliefs creates such a remarkable nation. Stephen starts his journey on the East Coast and zigzags across America, stopping in every state from Maine to Hawaii, talking to each state's hospitable citizens, listening to music, visiting landmarks, viewing small-town life and America's breathtaking landscapes, following wherever his curiosity leads him.
En route he discovers the South Side of Chicago with blues legend Buddy Guy, catches up with Morgan Freeman in Mississippi, strides around with Ted Turner on his Montana ranch, marches with Zulus in Mardi Gras in New Orleans, drums with the Sioux Nation in South Dakota, joins a Georgia family for Thanksgiving, "picks" with bluegrass hillbillies, and finds himself in a Tennessee garden full of dead bodies.
Whether in a club for failed gangsters in Brooklyn, New York (yes, those are real bullet holes), or celebrating Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts (is there anywhere better?), Stephen is welcomed by the people of America—mayors, sheriffs, newspaper editors, park rangers, teachers, and hoboes, bringing to life the oddities and splendors of each locale. A celebration of the magnificent and the eccentric, the beautiful and the strange, Stephen Fry in America is the author's homage to this extraordinary country.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
November 21, 2023 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780061990090
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780061990090
- File size: 11623 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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April 15, 2009
In this companion to a television series already aired on the BBC in the UK and likely to be aired stateside soon, actor and writer Fry ("Revenge: A Novel") chronicles his adventures visiting all 50 statesa feat even most Americans will never accomplish. He travels mostly in a London taxicab, a motorized manifestation of his "quintessential Englishness," and offers an outsider's refreshing perspective on the vastness and variety of America. In Vermont, Fry creates his own ice cream as a "Guest Flavorist" at Ben and Jerry's. In South Carolina, he attends a Gullah community choir performance. He interviews Native Americans on a reservation in South Dakota and swims with sharks in Hawaii. As Frey predicts of his readers, this reviewer turned first to her home state of New Jersey, which he admits is an easy target for criticism. Fry's is witty enough to relieve any chagrin one might feel about the tackiness of Atlantic City as he describes his gig as a blackjack dealer. As this book is written primarily for a British audience, American readers might miss an allusion or two, but they will find much that is delightfully funny and informative.Megan Hahn Fraser, UCLA Lib.Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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