The Accidental Immigrant: America ObservedTransatlantic 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. |
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 |