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

Written by Roger Bennett

Narrated by Roger Bennett

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 1980’s Liverpool to become the quintessential Englishman in New York. A memoir for fans of Jon Ronson and Chuck Klosterman, but with Roger Bennett’s signature pop culture flair and humor.

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 1980’s Liverpool to become the quintessential Englishman in New York. A memoir for fans of Jon Ronson and Chuck Klosterman, but with Roger Bennett’s signature pop culture flair and humor.

Being a teenager isn’t easy, no matter where in the world you live or how much it does or doesn’t rain in your hometown. As an outsider—a private-schooled Jewish kid in working-class, heavily Catholic Liverpool—Roger Bennett wasn’t winning any popu­larity contests. But there was one idea, or ideal, that burned bright in Roger’s heart. That was America— with its sunny skies, beautiful women, and cool kids with flipped collars who ate at McDonald’s. When he embraced American popular culture, the dull gray world he lived in turned to neon teal—a color which had not even been invented in England yet. Intro­duced first through the gateway drug of The Love Boat, then to Rolling Stone, the NFL, John Hughes movies, Run-DMC, and Tracy Chapman, Roger embraced everything that would capture the imagination of a teenager growing up Stateside. When he made a real, in-the-flesh American friend who invited him over for the summer, he got to visit the promised land. A month in Chicago, and a life-changing night spent in the company of the Chicago Bears, was the first hit of freedom, of independence, of the Roger Bennett he knew he could be.

(Re)Born in the USA captures the universality of growing pains, growing up, and growing out of where you come from. Drenched in the culture of the late ’80s and ’90s from the UK and the USA, and the heartfelt, hilarious sense of humor that has made Roger Bennett so beloved by his listeners, here is both a truly unique coming-of-age story and the love letter to America that the country needs right now.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jun 29, 2021
• ISBN: 9780062958747

Roger Bennett

Roger Bennett is a broadcaster and podcaster and half of the duo Men in Blazers. He is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Men in Blazers Present Encyclopedia Blazertannica.

Reviews for Reborn in the USA

[Shelley Swift · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Huge fan of Rog and the Men in Blazers pod, so hearing him tell his story in his own voice was extra special.

[Andrew Farnsworth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's always odd reading a biography of someone of a similar age as you (someone I've never heard of eitherl) , most of the incidents they write about have you going, oh yeah, forgot about that... Some genuinely funny, moving, honestand more than a few disturbing stories of growing up in 70/80s Liverpool.

Like the author, I too fell in love with the USA during the beige UK 70s, where I had to sit through the Black and White Minstrel show to get to US gems like Starsky and Hutch and The Streets of San Francisco. So it's mad in a time, where the US is so disparaged to have to defend the live of a countrt that gone off the tracks. Bennett does this with ease.

Great narration and I look forward to the follow up.

[littlet1261 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Just finished listening to this book, This audiobook should come with a warning! 'Don't drink liquids while listening to this book'! This happened to me twice. I was taking a sip of Coke when Roger said something so funny. It is impossible to swallow, and laugh at the same time. I ended up snorting Coke.

[artrodrigues · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The author's self-deprecating sense of humor is priceless particularly when he describes growing up in Liverpool.

[dele2451 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this time of widespread disillusionment about and within America, this book is a welcome and much-needed reminder about what the world loves about the United States. Like the Hughes movies that Bennett grew up on, it is funny, awkward at times, and enjoyably nostalgic, but it also contains some universal truths about growing up and the hope which the American Dream brings to all parts of the globe. Chicagoans will find it especially entertaining.