Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24-carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as "The Thunderbolt Kid." Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality—a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. He brings us into the life of his loving but eccentric family, including affectionate portraits of his father, a gifted sportswriter for the local paper and dedicated practitioner of isometric exercises, and OF his mother, whose job as the home furnishing editor for the same paper left her little time for practicing the domestic arts at home. The many readers of Bill Bryson’s earlier classic, A Walk in the Woods, will greet the reappearance in these pages of the immortal Stephen Katz, seen hijacking literally boxcar loads of beer. He is joined in the Bryson gallery of immortal characters by the demonically clever Willoughby brothers, who apply their scientific skills and can-do attitude to gleefully destructive ends. (from Random House website)
I thought this book was so good I was laughing through most of it. I was also amazed at how different life is now it really has not been that long!
2 comments:
I received this book as a Christmas gift last year and finally got around to reading it. I really enjoyed it! As you say, there are many parts that are laugh-out-loud funny. And there was much in the book that reminded me of my own childhood, although I grew up in a very different kind of family and cultural environment. Still, I played with some of the same ridiculous toys that Bryson did (I had the very same electronic football game with a metal playing field and players that moved as the field vibrated. It was a joke, but then we didn't know any better). And I, too, envisioned myself as a superhero who could destroy the forces of evil all around me.
Some of the attitudes described in the book were ones that I didn't share when I was growing up, but I now find them intriguing nevertheless. For example, the optimism about atomic power in the 50s is amazing to me given what we now know.
Anyway, I thought this book was a hoot!
Very funny. The thing that struck me the most was the novelty of everything. Refridgerators were exciting. The invincibility of the 50's was astounding. Nuclear, x-ray, ddt....no problem. Although really none of those things were a good idea it is fun to listen to someone tell the tale of their virtually worry-free childhood. A fun read.
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