A “field guide to the British”? Never mind that it does make one imagine that the British are some kind of endangered species to be observed from a respectable distance, I must say that Sarah Lyall’s The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British was an entertaining and informative read.

Ms. Lyall is the stereotypical “Yankee in Queen Elizabeth’s Court,” a displaced American trying to make her way among our more refined but strangely similar cousins. The focus of her narrative is somewhat limited to the more commonly known “British” topics that we fail to understand here in the “practice colonies” but still find titillating: the royals, the tabloids, the food, the “stiff upper lip” mentality, cricket (the game, not the insect, you git), the politics of Parliament…and, yes, the teeth.

As the wife of an Englishman and the mother of two daughters split between the two worlds, Ms. Lyall can lay claim to a deeper understanding than most armchair Anglophiles (myself included). I do believe that she succeeds at helping her American compatriots understand a bit better what takes place on the other side of the pond, and the why of it all. Whether or not she got the why of it all as accurate as she should have is another question. If there are any British visitors to the lair who have read this book and would like to make any corrections, please click the link to my e-mail address, provided in the column to your right. I would very much enjoy hearing from you.

Final score: 4/5. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable read that provided this Anglophile with a deeper view of British life than I could ever glean from my quick hops to the Big Smoke. It has definitely earned its place on my bookshelf.

Now on to Alice Sebold’s The Almost Moon. I’m a bit worried as I have read nothing but negative reviews of this book. Are they based on the fact that nothing short of something dictated by God him/her/itself could thrive in the shadow of greatness cast by The Lovely Bones? Or is the criticism warranted?

We shall soon find out…