[I relaxed] my customary aversion to consulting a book by anyone so immensely pratty as to put "Ph. D." after his name (I don't put Ph. D. after my name on my books, after all — and not just because I don't have one).

Bryson was later awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Durham - I'm a Stranger Here Myself (US) / Notes From a Big Country (UK) (1998)