From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the 1950s
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. Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, and full of his inimitable, pitch-perfect observations, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is as wondrous a book as Bill Bryson has ever written. It will enchant anyone who has ever been young.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir:
Easily Bryson's funniest work, imo. To reduce the chance of choking or spitting up food on a friend, don't read this while eating. It's that darn funny. The audio version, which Bryson reads, is even funnier.
Such fun!:
After reading A Short History of Nearly Everything and the biography Mr. Bryson did of Shakespeare, I read Made In America. I now consider myself hooked. I loved this particular volume for its period detail, its humor, and for helping me remember parts of my own childhood. In the next few weeks and months, I intend to read my way through all of Mr. Bryson's books -- or I may listen to audio versions. For those of you who haven't heard his voice, all I can say is that it's a mixture of American Midwest and... more info
One of Bill Bryson's Funniest Books:
One of Bill Bryson's funniest books. Autobiographical stories of his childhood. Get it on tape and listen aloud. Then you can crack up with other people. Read it by yourself, and you get weird looks from people on the subway while you hold back laughter. The choice is yours. GET THIS BOOK.
Funny but audio version not helped by author's voice:
I listened to the audio version, narrated by the author. Bryson is a great humorist but not a great narrator. His voice is soft and has an unusual accent, most likely due to his having lived in England for most of his adult life. Still, I recommend the book if you are a baby boomer in a nostalgic mood. Bryson gives a very humorous picture of growing up in the fifties.
