The Accidental Immigrant: America Observed

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iUniverse, 2004 - Humor - 340 pages
Transatlantic humorist David Bouchier brings wit, wisdom and a touch of philosophy to the everyday dramas of American suburban life. This book brings together more than a hundred essays, originally broadcast on National Public Radio, or published in his Out of Order column in the Sunday New York Times.

When work and marriage brought David Bouchier to Long Island in 1986 the endless suburbs seemed mysterious and exotic to him. He was inspired to begin writing essays and newspaper columns about his life there - a personal and public diary of the Resident Alien experience. In 1992 a weekly public radio essay was added to the newspaper columns, and thousands of listeners still enjoy David's weekly radio broadcasts.

These are the affectionate and sometimes acerbic observations of an Accidental Immigrant, who still finds life in America endlessly stimulating and wonderfully strange. David Bouchier's thoughts about love, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the suburbs will make you smile, and make you think. Boring suburban rituals like lawn care mall shopping, wedding rehearsals, and barbecues will never seem the same again.

From inside the book

Contents

PART
1
Love on the Radio
14
Love in the Twilight Zone
27
Life
31
Allergic to Life
37
Happy Trails
43
Fatal Vision
50
The World According to AARP
56
Suburban Deadly Sins
169
The Closet of Good Intentions
175
Cold Comfort
181
Inferior Decoration
187
Do it Yourself
194
Time Out in Utopia
201
The Tourist Test
208
Wish You Were Here
214

Hard Labor
63
Conspicuous Consultation
69
Free to be Me
75
The Business of America
81
Save Time Mow Dont Spend it Later
87
Evolving Backwards
93
The Pursuit of Happiness
97
Gods for Our Time
103
The Ideal Murder
109
Art Alfresco
115
The AllPlastic Beeping
121
Personal Growth and the Problem
127
Last Call for Happy Hour
133
The Country Mouse Trap
139
The Vanishing Dinner Party
146
The Green Plague
152
Lawn Care Victim
156
Forward to the Past
163
Out of This World
221
Philosophy in the Slow Lane
227
The Coneheads of Summer
234
The Bus to Gotham
241
PART EIGHT
247
Mo Sun Mo Fun
253
Silly Suffolk
259
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
266
Remembering Too Well
273
The Best Radio Essay in
277
new Age Meets Middle Age
283
normal Science
290
Beyond a Joke
296
The Radio Art Critic
302
The Qreat Megabooks Mystery
309
Mixed Messages
316
Copyright

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