Non­fic­tion

Reborn in the USA: An Eng­lish­man’s Love Let­ter to His Cho­sen Home

  • From the Publisher
September 1, 2020

One-half of the cel­e­brat­ed Men in Blaz­ers duo, long­time cul­ture and soc­cer com­men­ta­tor Roger Ben­nett traces the ori­gins of his love affair with Amer­i­ca, and how he went from a depraved, pim­ply-faced Jew­ish boy in 1980s Liv­er­pool to become the quin­tes­sen­tial Eng­lish­man in New York. Reborn in the USA is Ben­net­t’s homage to ado­les­cence as a triple out­sider (Jew­ish in large­ly Catholic Liv­er­pool, mid­dle class in an over­whelm­ing­ly work­ing-class com­mu­ni­ty, and obsessed with Amer­i­can cul­ture while his peers tend­ed towards more deviant, bor­der­line hooli­gan, behav­ior.) He was hap­pi­est when watch­ing The Love Boat and Mia­mi Vice, read­ing his hoard­ed copies of Rolling Stone, and blast­ing John Mel­len­cam­p’s Scare­crow.” An Amer­i­can stuck in his native Eng­land. He beau­ti­ful­ly cap­tures the uni­ver­sal­i­ty of grow­ing pains, grow­ing up, and grow­ing out of where you come from. Rich with nos­tal­gic pop-cul­ture ref­er­ences from both sides of the pond‚ and with Roger’s over-the-top sense of humor‚ this is both a tru­ly unique, mov­ing com­ing-of-age sto­ry and the love let­ter to Amer­i­ca that this coun­try needs right now.

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