"Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States," is more than the title suggests. Much of the book is given over to an exploration of American English etymology and phraseology. However, Bryson spends considerable time venturing off into what can best be described as an anecdotal journey through American history.
It works. In fact, the anecdotalisms are the best part of the book. I've noticed in this and "The Mother Tongue" (his exploration of the King's English), Bryson's word histories sometimes run towards long lists with not enough exploration to make them interesting. That same pattern is true for the early part of this book. However, Bryson soon gets sidetracked in discussing various historical oddities and characters that make very interesting and usually witty reading.
This is a good, light book that can be enjoyed in small pieces if desired. It's anecdotal parts most resemble one of those "1001 Things Everyone Ought To Know About American History Books" -- in short, a collection of brief and interesting stories that are well written and evoke the occasional guffaw.
His word derivations and explorations are more scholarly and exact. Often fascinating, they sometimes are a bit too list oriented and crowded. But, ultimately they are still interesting if one would like to know why we: "Keep the ball rolling," live in many places named after Indian words, call our soldiers "GIs drive in "cars" and "autos" or speak in the numerous ways that are not literal nor necessarily logical but are definitely American.
