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1、I'MASTRANGERHEREMYSELFNOTESONRETURNINGTOAMERICAAFTERTWENTYYEARSAWAYBillBrysonCopyright©1999ISBN0-7679-0382-XINTRODUCTIONInthelatesummerof1996,anoldjournalistfriendfromLondonnamedSimonKelnercalledmeinNewHampshire,towhereIhadlatelymovedafterlivingfortwenty-someyearsinBritain
2、.SimonhadrecentlybeenmadeeditorofNight&Daymagazine,asupplementoftheMailonSundaynewspaper,anditwashisideathatIshouldwriteaweeklycolumnforhimonAmerica.AtvarioustimesovertheyearsSimonhadpersuadedmetodoallkindsofworkthatIdidn'thavetimetodo,butthiswaswayoutofthequestion."No,"Is
3、aid."Ican't.I'msorry.It'sjustnotpossible.I'vegottoomuchon.""Socanyoustartnextweek?""Simon,youdon'tseemtounderstand.Ican'tdoit.""Wethoughtwe'dcallit'NotesfromaBigCountry.'""Simon,you'llhavetocallit'BigBlankSpaceintheMagazine'becauseIcannotdoit.""Splendid,splendid,"hesaid,bu
4、tatrifleabsently.Ihadtheimpressionthathewasdoingsomethingelseatthesametime-reviewingmodelsforaswimsuitissuewouldbemyguess.Inanycase,hekeptcoveringupthephoneandissuingimportanteditor-typeinstructionstootherpeopleinthevicinity."Sowe'llsendyouacontract,"hewentonwhenhecameback
5、tome."No,Simon,don'tdothat.Ican'twriteaweeklycolumnforyou.It'sassimpleasthat.Areyoutakingthisin?Tellmeyouaretakingthisin.""Excellent.I'mabsolutelydelighted.We'realldelighted.Well,mustrun.""Simon,pleaselistentome.Ican'ttakeonaweeklycolumn.Justnotpossible.Simon,areyouhearing
6、this?Simon?Hello?Simon,areyouthere?Hello?Bugger."AndthatishowIbecameanewspapercolumnist,apursuitIfollowedforthenexttwoyears,fromSeptember1996toSeptember1998.Thethingaboutaweeklycolumn,Idiscovered,isthatitcomesupweekly.Nowthismayseemaself-evidentfact,butintwoyearstherenever
7、cameaweekwhenitdidnotstrikemeasbothprofoundandstartling.Anothercolumn?Already?ButIjustdidone.Imentionthistomakethepointthatwhatfollowswasnot•intendedtobe-couldnotbe-asystematicportraitofAmerica.MostlyIwroteaboutwhateverlittlethingshadlatelyfilledmydays-atriptothepostoffice
8、,thejoyofhavingagarbagedisposalforthefirsttime,thegloriesoftheAmericanmotel.Evenso,Iwould
