Bill Bryson Books

While I enjoyed this book, I couldn't help but feel a bit depressed after reading it. Having been to Europe a couple of times in the past 25 years (once on a "Grand Tour" in my 20's (in the 1980's) and the other a couple of weeks in Ireland and England-in my 40's), I wanted so much to enjoy this book and hopefully find some things I could relate to from my Grand Tour of Europe (both of my trips were wonderful BTW). What I came away with is what maybe happens too many times when travelling. Mr. Bryson's trip looked better on paper than the actual vacation ended up being.

Mr. Bryson was consistently "let down" by not only the cities and towns he visited (which seemed to be consistently dirty) but also by the Europeans themselves (who were inevitably unfriendly...in most cases). If I had never been to Europe, this book would not give me any inspiration whatsoever to visit there. In fact, I'd want to stay as far away as possible. Who would want to visit filthy cities and deal with dour individuals when you're paying good money to be there and helping to infuse their economies. In country after country this happened to him. I would like to think that we don't treat tourists that way in America...at least I hope not. Of course, it's always been my opinion (and my experience in Europe) that the Europeans have always felt superior (but it's never detracted from my good memories of my trips), but that's another story for another time.

Anyway, the book just left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Don't get me wrong, I laughed out loud (and quite hysterically) many times while reading it, but in the end I don't feel better for having read it (I did learn some interesting tidbits about some of the countries he visited though). It just surprised and disappointed me that he encountered SO many miserable people in so many different countries during such a short period of time. I suppose it's not his fault that it was what it was... maybe the 90's were just that way though....here's hoping things have changed.

Why did Mr. Bryson write this book? Was it to discourage people from traveling in Europe? He is disappointed at every stop he makes - perhaps had he planned a little better, that would not have been the case. In addition, Mr. Bryson forgets that he is a tourist and that people actually live their lives in the places he visits - they do not live there to accomodate tourists or Mr. Bryson. Do yourself a favor - don't buy this book.

From reading the numerous glowing reviews, I guess it is just me. I was bored silly with Bryson's "Neither Here Nor There," and after just 70 pages ended up skimming the rest to see if it got better. It didn't and I cut my losses and gave up. Normally I like books by humorists, but Mr. Bryson's humor seems labored and deliberate; basically he hits you over the head with his cliche'd descriptions. I found some of his experiences unbelievable and perhaps he asked for some of the treatment by his manner, attitude, who knows?

I have read Dave Barry and howled, David Sedaris and doubled over trying not to embarrass myself in public by screaming with laughter. Mr. Bryson is not my type of humorist. I guess my impression of this book is that he took a trip back, with a chip on his shoulder and really didn't enjoy it at all. Why are we supposed to???

Last fall, as a 21 year-old college student in his final year, I started pondering what to do with that ludicrous accumulation of wealth that all university students find upon graduation. Lies, actually: I scraped together the best I could and bought a ticket for London. A pair of "Let's Go" guides accompanied me for practical reasons, but Neither Here Nor There was my travel bible, my Psalms, as it were. I read it that Fall of '07 and it inspired me to take the trip in ways that no other source had. It revealed to me that even travel hardships can result in the most absurdly funny, cherished stories.

His ascerbic wit goes gangbusters on the little quirks of the Continental, from country to hilarious country. I partially molded my trip to make sure I checked out some of his destinations--they were that well-described.

Interestingly enough, I found him to be dead-on in some countries/cities, and WAY off the mark in others. One of his most memorable anecdotes comes out of backwoods Austria. I happened to find the same people to be the kindest, most hospitable of my whole 14-country trip. But the laughs I had over that chapter, and the inspiration to camp out under the Tyrolean night sky, paid dividends. So what if his descriptions aren't cookie-cutter and unfailing? No two travel experiences are the same, and God forbid they ever will be.

Read this book. You'll shoot (insert beverage here) through your nose laughing and develop an ache to see Europe. Prost, Bill.

Bill Bryson has written so many hilarious books that it's hard to say which is the funniest, but when I meet someone who is new to Bryson's work, again and again I find myself recommending this one.

The one-liners ("Italians park as if they've just spilled a beaker of hydrocloric acid in their laps") are funny no matter how well-travelled (or non-travelled) you are, and the prose is so descriptive and wonderful that you learn as you go along.

As far as I'm concerned Bill Bryson is the finest non-fiction writer of our time.

An absolutely delightful introduction to a history of the English language. Like the author's "A Short History of Nearly Everything", it approaches a huge subject with great enthusiasm -giving me a general understanding of a topic I previously knew very little about. A joy to read.

I've taken a few moments to write this very brief endorsement because I saw that one person was dissuaded from purchasing the book because of a one-star review. What a shame.

This book is a notch above Bryson's other books. And that is saying A LOT! It is compelling, very witty, and overall memorable. It certainly piqued by interested in the English language and linguistics in general. Do yourself a favour, and get this book. You will not be disappointed with this well-researched tome that Bryson produced here.

This book brings to the forefront the richness of the English language. English is my cherished second language and I feel heavily indebted to it. English has allowed me to travel to some countries where I would have remained almost incommunicado with my native Spanish. Also, English has allowed me access to certain books that deal with topics that are not available in Spanish written books (to my knowledge).

To read this book was a pleasurable experience to me. The book is entertaining, instructive, full of useful information, and, inspiring. This book is a must reading for anybody that loves the English language. Five shining stars for it.

"The Mother Tongue: English & How It Got That Way" is an entertaining tour of the merits and idiosyncrasies of humanity's most global language: English. Author Bill Bryson introduces the reader to the history, evolution, and variety of English with good humor and lots of examples. Spoken fluently by probably about 400 million people worldwide, not including speakers of English-based creoles, English is not the most-spoken language, but it is the most studied, emulated, and widely distributed, being an official language in 44 countries. As it has become "the lingua franca of business, science, education, politics, and pop culture", it's worth taking a look at how confusing and wonderful English really is.

Bryson writes mostly of British and American English, with occasional references to Australian and Canadian, but this book is written for an American audience. Although it does touch upon some different dialects, it does not address pidgins or creoles. It does explain what makes English simple -few inflected verbs and adjectives, few consonant clusters and tonal variations, no gender- and what makes it difficult -huge vocabulary and ridiculous spelling. No less fascinating than the discussions of English are Bryson's examples of the behavior of other languages for comparison, which give the characteristics of English some context and inspire interest in language in general.

After a history of English's 1000+ years and an explanation of how words enter into language, the book launches into English's endearing (ahem) eccentricities: the evolution of pronunciation, development of regional dialects, how (and why?) we manage (or not) to spell 40 sounds in 200 different ways, word meanings and dictionaries, and a lightweight chapter on the lack of authority on English grammar. Bryson concludes with some fun chapters on names, swear words, and word games. He's dismissive of attempts to restore/introduce phonetic spelling, but there are good arguments for doing so, and workable alphabets have been devised for this purpose.

"The Mother Tongue" does not go into a great deal of depth on its subjects but rather introduces the reader to the strengths and peculiarities of English. Though I think Bryson gets his main points across well, there are an unfortunate number of factual errors, particularly relating to other languages. Bryson seems to have taken a lot of information from popular books instead of consulting direct sources, such as linguists or foreign language scholars. Still, he is a good writer, and the casual reader cannot help but develop a new fascination and admiration for the English language. "The Mother Tongue" is a charming inducement to investigate its subjects in more depth. 3 1/2 stars.

Mr. Bryson's "The Mother Tongue" is an easy read, but unfortunately it contains many factual mistakes and, as one other reviewer put it so well, "sloppy scholarship". I am a native speaker of German and I wish he would have gotten some help from a German linguist for his comparisons of English with German.

My problem with the book started with the "Acknowledgments" where Mr Bryson writes "certain passages in this book originally appeared in somewhat altered form in TWA Ambassador and in the Canadian textbook Language in Action, and I wish to thank both organizations for permission to reproduce those excerpts here." My understanding of the word "to alter" in its form "altered" is that it refers to something that has been changed from its original form. Bryson's sentence hence implies that the chapters in question had been written initially for the book "The Mother Tongue" and were only later changed to be published in the TWA magazine. I think this is hardly likely and, in fact, the altered versions of the original articles are in the book, not the other way around. If somebody uses language incorrectly already in the acknowledgments section, my trust in the author's expertise about language is seriously impacted.

I read about one third of this book, but I did not finish it, because I am afraid it may hurt my understanding of the English language more than it will help. There are several mistakes obvious to me, so I am afraid other "facts" might by incorrect as well. I simply cannot trust Bryson.

Pardon me while I whine a bit, but the reviewers who complain that the book lacks scholarship and similar pedantic complaints have missed the point. Bill Bryson is a writer, a storyteller, and man of wide interests who can churn out charming, remarkably well researched books at a satisfying rate. Like his History of Everything (the "history" of science), The Informal History of American English is not a textbook, not complete and not intended for a serious study of the language. It makes the point that language is evolutionary, a flexible, variable tool that, in America, probably has had a broader range of lasting influences than most languages, and those influences reflect American society. If you are a reader and like words and their derivations, this is dessert--fully satisfying but not the complete meal. He prefers the words and sayings that have good stories about them, and his 20 years of living in England are reflected in is often wry, dryly witty take on the facts. It is occasionally laugh out loud, has any number of chuckles and is interesting throughout. He writes easily and occasionally reflects some real depth in his efforts. He relies perhaps a bit too much on Mencken's research, but then they share a world view and sense of humor. Originally a travel writer, he takes a trip through American history and points out the bits that interest him most, and makes it enjoyable, entertaining and even educational. Like a conversation, the book sometimes wanders off topic to charming or ironic side note, but he always returns to the main road. If your expectations are reasonable, this book is a pleasure and I suspect you will pick it up later, from time to time, to remind yourself of the story or circumstances behind the way we speak or just to get a moment of intelligent wit. I gave it 4, instead of 5, stars because he could have written more, because it needs a little editing and because despite an impressive bibliography, a bit of the philosophy of language development would not have gone amiss. But for a pleasurable read on an interesting topic for the dilettante (history of the word dilettante is in the book), this is a good buy.

I moved to the States when I was twenty. I was vastly ignorant about the country. I loved this book! Bryson is a spotty writer (not referring to his complexion, but his complete history of everything) but he was spot on with this one.

I'm off to buy another copy.

I live in Florida now. Since I do, I have what I call my hurricane books. These are the books I read and re-read via flashlight or candles if necessary when the power has been off for three weeks.

This is a hurricane book.

I believe Bill Bryson did a magnificent job in his book Made in America with outlining some points in history that we may not have as much of the whole story as we think we do from school. While he illustrates some untold truths of people and events we have for so long put on such a high pedestal his main point is to analyze the English Language in the United States. It is interesting how he manages to tie these to points together and helps one understand how the book flows and the history. My family has always taught me to think for myself and to keep an open mind because history is written by the victor and may not always be the whole truth. I do not think most people grow up with that kind of support and idealism and I think Bill Bryson points this out to many who seem to think that what they learned in school is the God spoken truth even if all the evidence in the world and common sense point otherwise.
I found that my theory of this seemed to be true on many occasions on where I had to interact and converse with my fellow classmates. Many had a hard time believing that there could be anything bad about certain historical figures that have been for so long up on a pedestal that they didn't believe that the people could have even errored. These historical figures are looked upon as Gods, not flawed humans. I noticed a conversation of two of my classmates on Thomas Edison, I believe, and they couldn't believe that all his inventions weren't his. They refused to believe that he could have even possibly have stole the ideas, and the reason for their disbelief, and I'm paraphrasing here, "Because I've never read anything like that in school" apparently they didn't realize that this class includes this book and is school, and "I didn't know him, so I'm just going to go off of what I've been told, and he's good in my book." It seems that people can be confronted with almost unlimited evidence and still say the sky is green.
However, this wasn't the first time I have experienced such things, my Grandmother makes a common example. She refuses to believe even under, again, almost unlimited evidence that Columbus was a bad guy. I have told her he was evil, and she gives me a cocky `I'm not going to believe anything you say because I'm older and know more' smile and says "Why? Because he discovered a country" And that is word for word what she said. Then I try to explain to her why he was evil, and all I get is her shaking her head and saying "Well, I don't believe that. I've never even heard of anything like that."
Of course, after taking a year of psychology I understand why all this is. It is hard for a human being to let go of great ideology of someone after being indoctrinated for so long. I myself have done it; I love my grandfather and for the longest time thought he could do no wrong, and I wouldn't listen to my mother when she tried to warn me it wasn't true. I found out the hard and very disappointed way that he is a racist. But I was a little surprised about my classmates' reaction. You see, the law of psychology in this case is that it is nearly impossible for a human being to let go of this kind of ideology after being indoctrinated for so long, so I expected it with my grandmother, but not young people who were still learning and were still supposed to be open minded.
In school we are often taught just the more wonderful things of the past and our often filled with lies to make everything seem golden as well. A good example of this was the story of one of my favorite professors, Professor Loewen. Professor Loewen was a college professor for American History at a state college. With his first lecture he would ask all the students a bunch of questions and every year he would get around the same statistics of about only an 11% minority being correct. The questions would mostly be on the false superiority of the white man and the opposite of the black man. Well, he began to wonder how they were all getting this false information. It turned out that the textbooks used very old data, and were not much younger themselves, and contained the false information. Well then, he set out to make a new high school text book that would be more accurate. He was very proud of his work and sent this text to the school board for approval. He was turned down 4 to 2. There were four white men on the board and two black men, guess who voted what. In the end he went to court because they wouldn't say why it was turned down. So when the judge finally asked the board why, the board turned to a certain page of a very old, very blurry photo and not very graphic photo of a lynching of a black man. The Boardman said he was afraid the picture would start riots in the school, and it happened so very long ago, why bring it up? The judge decided to answer the question and said "Well, it is a history book, and our state has had more lynchings than any in the country." Professor Loewen won his case.
Bill Bryson did a great job of tying language and history together, but he also tied in psychology, whether that was planned or unknowingly done I don't know. Either way, however, knowing the language at the time of the events gives us some clues into the minds of the people living in the times. He starts all the way from how a nursery rhyme will stay within a culture long after it's meaning has been forgotten all the way to the almost present day America where we are the richest country and European descent is quickly becoming a minority but far from this being a bad thing and most immigrants believe that if you live in America you should speak English (in other words, like everyone else) and become a productive citizen no matter what.
Bill Bryson points out tragedies of the past and almost present, but he all presents the hope in both. Yes, there were things that we shouldn't be proud of in the past, but it doesn't mean all of the past was bad. And yes, even in recent times we've done wrong, but that doesn't mean all our people are bad or the world is coming to an end. Bill Bryson simply points out that there were good things in the past, there were bad things in the past, there were things in between, some even comical, but this doesn't change who we are. It does change our perspective on ourselves and our nation though, in a sense we are no longer glorifying ourselves and godlike, but we are flawed and real. As long as we acknowledge the past we can move forward and we can progress individually and as a nation, because now we are no longer ashamed and we no longer hide. You weep for the victims of the past and you smile unto the survivors, but the most important thing is to not forget their story.

Bill Bryson has a unique and interesting writing style. You just can't put his books down. Makes you understand the little nuances of his travels.

I had read several of Bryson's magazine articles and enjoyed them. This book, while full of fascinating information and facts, was a little too much of a good thing under one cover. Fortunately, the chapters were easily devoured in one sitting and the book could be returned to after several days without losing track. An enjoyable, easy read.

If you like a good cop fiction novel than this one will make a good read. I started the Shane Scully series with the tin collectors and have continued to read them. This novel is packed with suspense. The novel will start out with a simple case for Shane Scully to handle but it quickly turns into more for him. Action packed and a bit of suspense.

mr cannell indeed is full of lotsa cool ideas on how novels could be interesting and fun to read. the dialogues in his books are all sharp and streetwise, the police procedures also read pretty real. the plot sometimes stretched out too far and wide but never lost focus. there are two mistakes found in this 'hollywood tough':
mistake one on page 117:
if a chinese restaurant named as 'peking duck', it usually hints it's a chinese restaurant serving northern chinese cuisine instead of the south-easter cantonese stuff such as dim sum. peking duck is a specialty of the northern china, orginated in peking. also, dim sum usually never served after 3:00pm. we usually couldn't get it, and if we try to get dim sum from a restaurant named 'peking duck', we definitely are morons.
mistake two on page 221:
the dialogue between scully and valentine was totally mixed up, names were obviously misplaced.
i've read this novel in 2003 and 2006. problem is that when i read it the second time, it only looked familiar. maybe that's the problem of all the modern day bestsellers.

Among my favorite books is King Con! I have bought many copies to give as gifts to friends. I buy Stephen Cannell always hoping to find another King Con.

The best character in this book is a marmalade cat named Franco. The plot goes off in many different directions! It never really hangs together. The shoot-out at the end is ridiculous. People who are supposed to be competent and intelligent make idiotic decisions. Scully's wife (groomed to be head of Dectives at LAPD) is so sweet and kind and thoughtful (and dumb)! Would LAPD groom such a woman to be head of detectives? Well, maybe in real life - but it just doesn't work in this story. Too many characters; too many subplots; racial stuff, gangs, Hollywood, the Mafia, family issues, movie making. I thought Cannell must have had a deadline for producing a book and looked through his file of old ideas and threw a bunch together and did his best to contrive a plot to connect disparate ideas. This book doesn't say anything, doesn't do anything. It's a dud. Don't bother.

Cannell manages in his Shane Scully novels to combine interesting and almost plausible plots with three-dimensional characters who talk and behave like real people. The dialogue is often brilliant, with terrific one liners and sarcasm to keep the reader's interest. My favorite characters with Cannell are the antagonists, in this case the contradictory Dennis Valentine and the squirmy, hilarious Nicky Marcela. The plot is entertaining enough, but I love the book for the interactions between the characters. Yes, everyone is uniformly handsome/gorgeous. Yes, there are shallow LA stereotypes on every page. The two main complaints I had were with the extraneous gang plot and the incredibly annoying character of Chooch, Shane's obnoxious and stupid son. I think Cannell writes the kind of books Stuart Woods attempts (but SW seems to lack the creativity and lively dialogue to be mentioned in the same breath).

Yes, it's true. Shane and Alexa are back in action, now married and living in Shane's small house in Venice CA with Shane's son Chooch. Alexa's long time friend Nora Bishop is getting married, and after a series of bad boyfriends she has finally landed Farrell Champion, big name movie producer.

When Alexa and Shane attend a party splattered with big name stars at Farrell's house, Shane runs into a no-name street grifter from the streets named Nicky Marcella. Nicky claims to be running a legitimate movie production company named Cine-Roma, and also claims to be partnered with Champion. He asks Shane for a favor in return for all the informing he had done in the past for LAPD, namely, find a girl named Carol White that Nicky wanted to star in his next movie.

Alexa is called away from the party for a big-time gang shooting, and as Shane is leaving separately, he overhears Farrell mentioning something about poisoning his two previous wives. Shane proceeds to find Carol, a used up junkie selling her body for fixes, and also discovers a strange plot to overtake the IATSE union by a mobster named Dennis Valentine from back east. When Carol is found brutally murdered, her death touches Shane deep inside, bring him face to face with the demons that keep him on the police force.

Shane realizes that somehow, Nicky, Dennis, Farrell, and the gang shootings are related, and vows to avenge Carol's useless death by discovering the truth behind the bizarre mob connections in the glamorous world of show business.

While Cannell's `The Viking Funeral' took a turn into the darker side of existence, `Hollywood Tough' makes up for it by skirting along an almost comedic edge of the seedier side of the movie industry. There's a script that makes no sense to be purchased from a Scientology-type religious fanatic, the movie star Michael Fallon who has so many phobias he has to track them on paper, a producer named Paul Lubick who's ego is only outsized by the massive redwood trees he imports for a ceiling shot, and Nicky Marcella's buzz-word wanna-be actions.

This time Shane may have bitten off more than he can chew, and as he slides into his own undercover world of glamour and glitz, he realizes the seductress's pull of the lifestyle and how close he finds himself submitting to its temptations. Also introduced in `Hollywood Tough' is Chooch's girlfriend Delfina, who to me turned out to be disappointingly shallow in comparison to the other brightly painted characters from the story.

Cannell again uses words to graphically sketch a rolling video in my head, the plot folding and twisting around one of my favorite book-cops of all. A fast and energetic read, don't miss out on the Shane Scully books, The Tin Collectors, The Viking Funeral, and now Hollywood Tough. Enjoy!

I recently finished Notes from a Small Island (which I thoroughly enjoyed), and was eager to dig into what I expected to be kind of an equivalent synopsis of life in America. I am very disappointed because it seems that Bryson spends most of the time pandering to the Brits who can never seem to find anything good to say about America. If things are really so dire over here, then why do they come in droves and never leave again? I was relieved when I finally reached a chapter in which Bryson's British wife points out that all he does is complain, and he finally got around to mentioning the friendliness of the American people.

I lived in England myself, and it's funny that some of the same things he seemingly resents about America are the same things that I couldn't wait to return to. In his prior book he speaks endearingly about the many quirky aspects of life in Britain but seems not be nearly as receptive to America's quirks. Just when will America be entitled to its own culture and way of life without having to apologize to its stodgy European predecessors?

There is an unspoken rule in English culture that one never (directly) brags about one's own family, or indeed anything. I suppose Notes from a Big Country is a good indication of just how 'English' Bryson became while he was there. By no means should he brag about America, particularly to his British audience, but the book could have been so much more positive.

How dare the curmudgeonly Mr. Byrson poke fun at the absurdities of American culture and society? You'd think that he'd been living in some odd little island-nation (like England, say) for the past two decades from the way he disparages the so-called dumbing down of America (we prefer "gravitating toward quiet imbecility," Mr. Bryson) and our beloved enthusiasm for formal procedure (for your information, red tape keeps our homeland stuck together). And when the author comments on our casual disregard for the environment and the American proclivity for predictability, he does so as though these are somehow bad things. And then, of course, Mr. Bryson attempts to cover up his unpatriotic tracks with anecdotes of how nice everyday Americans really are (like when new neighbors welcomed his family with freshly baked pies), but by then his agenda has already been exposed; the treasonous damage is done. What perturbs me most about Bill Bryson is his opinions and the fact that he seems to be filled up with them. Oh, and his humor. Someone needs to inform this man that humor is not always funny. Well, sir, you may have had the first laugh, but since the time you wrote this spiteful little tome, America has put itself on a new and correct political track and is determined to right all of the wrongs. And so I ask you, Mr. Bryson: who is laughing now?

PS: I am currently reading your book on Shakespeare. It's quite good.

Troy Parfitt, author

One explanation of the conception of 'British humour' is that by laughing about it was the only way for the Brits to cope with the misfortune of loosing an empire. It this 'just wonder and laugh about it' attitude which Bryson applies to all kind of Americanisms and every day wonders and (mis)fortunes. And who better then a funny bloke like Bill Bryson to reflect on these in a combined 78 news paper columns as an American who lived in the UK for over twenty years who masters the art or exaggeration. This is the ideal book to pick up every now and then, read a few notes and move on with a smile on your face.

If you are able to laugh at your own faults and mistakes - this is a great book. Otherwise stay away because it'll just get you frustrated (as one of the reviewers mentioned, this book may only be a bestseller in the Middle East or a favourite of illegal immigrants).
I definitely recommend.

In spite of all the xenophobic rants from our "love it or leave it" reviewers, Bryson is not out to bring down the good ole U.S. of A., but only to give to British readers glimpses of America that they don't normally see on reruns of "Law and Order", "The O.C.", or the myriad other American TV imports that are slowly taking over British television. If some of his subjects might upset some of these readers, they need to get over it. The columns, and the book in which the columns were compiled, were NOT meant for them in the first place. The columns that make up this book were written between October 1996 and May 1998 and published in the Mail on Sunday's Night and Day magazine for a primarily British audience. The selling point for this run of articles was that Bryson would be returning to the States after some twenty years in Britain and that the America he would be describing would be seen by the eyes of an American, but an American that had absorbed enough of Britannia to become something of a hybrid. The resulting columns would naturally be informative, witty, and penetrating.

Unfortunately, this goal was only partially successful. Bryson can be a very insightful observer, and his writing style is infectious enough, but now and then it seems that he is neither interested in the subject of which he writes nor is he able to bring the full talent of his art to the task. Both of these weaknesses are apparent in this collection of articles. The subject of his notes run the gamut from the obesity and ignorance of a goodly portion of the American population to the wonders and brilliance of the American landscape. And since these writings were intended for "light" reading there is an attempt to make them humorous. Bryson can be VERY funny when he is not TRYING to be funny; alas, most of the humor in this book is of the contrived type: Bryson acting the dunce for a few cheap laughs. Equally annoying is his way of ending each of his notes, where the reader is to believe that Bryson is bringing his weekly musings to a close because of some outside event like eating dinner, decorating the Christmas tree, or playing catch with his kids, rather than the fact that his word quota has been met.

And since I'm being finicky here, it must be mentioned that ole Bill is triple dipping. First, he writes these 70 odd notes for a weekly periodical; he then incorportes them into this book; and then he incorporates THIS book (minus those Briticisms and British spellings so anathema to the "love it or leave it" crowd) into another book, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, which is intended for an American audience. Not a bad return for some random musings originally intended for British readers passing a lazy weekend.

Rather mundane descriptive work. It is outdated by a quarter century. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

This book covers a range of words that tend to get misspelled or misused in English publications. Many of them are words of French or Latin origin, which makes them a problem only for those who did not have to take one of these languages in school. The last chapter in the book is dedicated to punctuation - and that one is really helpful for any reader.

I bought the book for my husband and he says he really likes it. I can't offer a personal opinion though.

Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words may have been useful twenty-five years ago, when it was first published, but it has become redundant. Most entries clarify word spellings and meanings, which a normal dictionary does just as well (with the advantage that it lists all words, not an arbitrary selection). A Google or Yahoo search will instantly clarify the rest, such as corporate names. Grammatical or stylistic advice is rarely given, and adds little to Strunk & White's better-organised and clearer The Elements of Style. And because of the dictionary format, that advice is buried in distant entries and hard to find. Nor does Bryson's manual lend itself to reading `like a novel', even if he wrote it with his customary humour. This is most likely to sit on your shelf.

I like language and its ability to allow the communication of complex and profound ideas as well as making it possible the get a coffee from Starbucks. This book, born out of Bryson's need for clarity as a newspaper reporter, is a wonderful read. Although laid out alphabetically like a conventional dictionary it is possible to dip into at any point and at any time to find oneself informed and amused. Plural of mongoose, mongooses not mongeese, fascinating and worth a bonus point in any trivia quiz. Oh, and Bryson insists there is no problem using split infinitives which is good news for Captain Kirk whose job is "to boldly go" to new worlds. In a world where standards seem to be slipping, (what is the difference between "verbal" and "oral", does anyone know, does anyone care: similarly "affect" and "effect") and where "eff off" gets marks in GSCE English we should be grateful for Bryson for keeping the language flag flying. Buy this please, I did and subsequently bought two further copies for friends.

As we Boomers are pushing our kids out of the nest, we are finding time to write. And what better topic to write about than ourselves? Bill Bryson adds his personal, perceptive and funny reminiscences of an Iowan boyhood in the 50s in the form of "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir," a fast-paced romp through a typical 50s childhood. Bryson combines solid period research, mature reflection, genuine memories and (too often?) outrageous exaggerations of fact into a memoir of a his wild childhood. He touches all the generational bases -- polio, the Red Scare, Sputnik, A-bomb drills, TV and comic book heroes as well as the personal ones about clueless parents, trying to get in to see the strippers at the fair, petty theft at the candy store, local brands of soda, hocking looeys in the Tunnel of Love and harassing managers when the lights dimmed at the movie house. Given the title of his memoir, it's surprising that his alter-ego -- The Thunderbolt Kid -- makes so few appearances in the book and seemed added almost as an afterthought or marketing ploy.

Nevertheless, I got a kick out of The Thunderbolt Kid, and it made me think back on my own childhood at the end of the 50s. Bryson's comments as funny and often on the mark. His short takes on 50s for black Americans, on the Army-McCarthy hearings and on the US's hapless late-50s space shots were educational. I found that Bryson's fictional swings actually diminished the effectiveness of the book -- it was sometimes hard to tell where reality left off and mendacity-as-entertainment began. No matter. An age in which kids spent their summers outside and unsupervised, in which neighbors were invited over to see the new fridge, and in which church suppers and county fairs were the major means of entertainment, and in which causal racism was pervasive and barely noted is increasingly difficult to recall. Bravo to Bill Bryson for helping us remember.

As always, Bryson is informative (the Thunderbolt Kid is really an excellent history of the 1950s and '60s in the U.S.) and wonderfully amusing (as in laugh out loud).

He's also an excellent narrator of this audio book.

Just one caveat. While the book is funny and interesting throughout, from my vantage point, at least, little about Bryson as a teenager was appealing: he essentially opted out of high school life, chose to spend minimal time with his family, was a petty thief, and starting at age 14 smoked like a chimney and drank a lot of alcohol. If you can't tolerate hearing about a kid like that, don't get this book.

Bill Bryson is by far the funniest, most insightful, travel writer today.
Here his travels are temporal, instead of spacial as he takes us back to his childhood - and what a childhood it was. His writing is so personal and open that you can't help but feel that this book was written specifically for you.


It is both a very middle class North American tale, set in the fifties and a Calvin archetype (as in Calvin and Hobbes) visioneering a rich and adventurous landscape, that none of the adults could see.

May The Thunderbolt Kid ride again.

David Cale

Bill Bryson's story of growing up in Iowa is a terrific book. I bought it in large print for my mother, who can read only large print, and who has difficulty hearing too, so this is the only way she could enjoy the book. She too adores Bill Bryson. We love his facility with language, and his many ways of making us laugh. He's a marvelous storyteller.

This was a wonderful book, which also deviates here and there into politics and general history.

I really came to enjoy Bryson's observations about how "the good old days" were also fraught with some significant downsides, which we've gratefully grown beyond.

One carp: Bryson himself reads the audio edition, and he's not the most gifted reader I've ever heard. He's so laconic that the material really has to carry itself.

H'mmm - maybe that's not such a bad thing after all...anyway, you'll enjoy this book in any form.

PS - if you like this, you'll love the writings of Jean Shepard, too.

Bill Bryson is best known for writing very humorous travel books, and "In a Sunburned Country" is indeed a funny account of his travels in Australia. Those who love Bill Bryson's books for their humor won't be disappointed.

But unlike most people, I like Bill Bryson best when he's NOT trying to be funny, and my appreciation of this book is mostly due to the great amount of very interesting information presented.

Bill Bryson amazes you with loads of information about the geology, the animal life, the plants and insects, the history, the statistics, the folklore, etc., etc. The many dangers: poisonous snakes, poisonous insects, poisonous jellyfish, crocodiles, sharks, and rip currents - they're all out to get you. The inhospitable deserts, the beautiful beaches, the huge distances; Bill Bryson gives you a feeling of what it's all like.

The book goes into detail about many aspects of Australian life that are fairly unknown, including the discovery (and re-discovery) of Australia, the settlement by British prisoners, the early expeditions to explore the interior, the gold rushes, the outlaws, and the devastation caused by rabbits and other imported animals and plants. Bill Bryson talks about the many unusual animal species found only in Australia, including giant earthworms that grow up to 1 meter (and can be stretched to 4 meters) and the platypus, a cross between a reptile and a mammal. He talks about Australians and the Australian society, and the situation regarding the native people, the aboriginals.

Bill Bryson doesn't cover all of Australia from the geographical point of view, and the parts he does cover are somewhat random. But that doesn't matter because he captures the spirit of the whole country based on the parts he does visit and the general information he includes.

A very positive aspect is that Bill Bryson makes it clear that he loves Australia. The feeling is infectious, and it makes you want to pack your bags and head "down under" for a long leisurely trip so you can do your own exploring.

If I were to mention two things I was less happy about, it would be the occasional excessive attempts to be funny and the lack of contact with Australians. One of the best parts of the book is about his traveling together with an Australian couple for 3-4 days, but other than this passage Bill Bryson is mostly playing the typical tourist, with little or no contact with Australians. And despite a fairly long discussion about the aboriginal situation he does not ever get into contact with any aboriginals. Why not?

A final note regarding the unabridged audio version of the book, read by Bill Bryson himself: Most authors are poor readers, but Mr. Bryson does a very good job here, almost on a par with a professional reader. Recommended.

Rennie Petersen

PS. "In a Sunburned Country" has also been published under the title "Down Under". It is exactly the same book.

This book has the exactly same content (word by word) with another Bill Bryson's book under the title 'In a Sunburned Country'.
I searched both books thoroughly and neither of them said anything about another book with the exactly content as itself.
I bought both and felt CHEATED.

I must be honest and say that I started this book in tandem with another just because I didn't think I'd be terribly interested in the subject matter, much as I love Bryson. By the end of the second chapter, I wanted to book a ticket on the next flight to Perth. The flora, fauna and folks that inhabit this wondrous country intrigue me strangely.

Bill Bryson is one of the funniest writers I have ever encountered. I find myself reading bits aloud to my husband at the slightest hint of encouragement. I challenge anyone to read his discussion of running through a park trying to get away from some scary dogs, and ending up in an unsuspecting housewife's back garden, without laughing out loud. If you can get through that section without giggling, you have nerves of steel.

I learned a great deal about Australia that I never, ever had heard before. This is a criminally neglected area of the world and I would love to find out more. What better place to start than with Bill Bryson. Highly recommended.

Bryson's dry wit and way of looking at himself and the world are inspiring and if you get the humor laugh out loud funny, so if you are planning a trip to Australia by all means read this book first, but understand that it's not really a book about traveling in Australia. Bryson is there to get to know the real Australia, he misses the icons of the country completely. The trips that he writes about are visiting friends or wandering the little traveled roads that even few Aussies have.

But you will gain an insight into the soul of Australians, something that will sound very familiar to Americans as their history is so similar to our own, which is probably why we love Australians and more often than not they love us. And after having read the book, if you want to go to Australia and retrace his footsteps and see an Australia that we Americans just miss, we'll, as they say down under, "good on ya".

Regarding Fai's review "CHEATED", I guess unless you come from Australia, there's little chance of knowing that it is often referred to as a "Sunburnt Country"; a term which came from a famous Australian poem, "My Country". Perhaps "Down Under" is a more popular term that needs no further explanation to the rest of the world, maybe it's more catchy, I'm not really sure why they changed the title, but it shouldn't detract a reader from its content. This book is hilarious and wonderfully informative. We all know Australia houses some of the world's deadliest spiders, snakes, jellyfish...you name it! But there were a lot of trivial things I read here that were never taught at school, which is a shame because if they did, I'm sure my History and Geography classes would've been a blast. Bill Bryson writes in a way that makes a reader feel they are right next to him experiencing the same things, shrieking at the sight of a spider, getting tumbled around mercilessly by the surf or going to the local pub for some much-deserved beer. This book made me realize I haven't really seen much of my country, and I can't wait to hop on that long-haul train ride, with this book in tow of course, and finally see the endless stretch of everything and nothing behind those famous postcards.

My first foray into the world of Bill Bryson's work has left an indelible mark on me - i am in love with it, and cannot get enough of it. It's hard enough to try to get to know and write about a such a great expanse of land when you're not Australian -but Bryson for the most part successfully does so. As an Australian who has lived in the US for the past 8 years, I cannot say i would be able to write as comprehensively and accurately about his country as he has about mine!
A sharp wit combined with a wonderful sense of humor made this a real page turner; Bryson accurately captures the essence and feeling of Australia - he comes not only to appreciate and understand us, but in the little pub in Daly Waters, I believe he becomes one of "us." Bryson captures all the beauty, irony, sadness, history, and geography that makes up this beautiful place I call home, and his gentle blend of fact and humor and anecdote makes this an unforgettable read. To elaborate: his ability to point out the inherent irony in "losing a prime minister" and subsequently naming a public swimming pool after a man who drowned is something that has always baffled me too, and i'm Australian! Or the fact that our national volume of history is only written up to the year 1935 made me question just how "modern" Australia really is. Bryson reports several times throughout that "it feels like 1951" - and that was interesting to learn, given that it is his American perspective. So too, i can similarly say as much about America when i see an antiquated wood-panelled wagon pass me on the most advanced road system in the world, or people signing checks at the supermarket check out (checks are no longer in use in Australia), which makes Bryson's alien perspecitve on Australia all the more interesting!
I enjoyed how Bryson gently touched on sensitive points too - our general lack of confidence and identity for example - i never knew how confused we were, when Bryson accurately note that we're not sure if we're brits or yanks, even in the green room!
My only criticisms would extend to Bryson's implication that aussies are "self absorbed" - something which I would strongly argue as false, given that much more international news reaches Australia's four paltry television stations than it does any of the 400+ cable tv/news media in the US.
Another point of contention: the implication that Australia tends to exist on the peripheries of the planet, outside of the "known world"(p238). I personally found this to be offensive. Bryson's claims that "[in Australia] it is easy to forget....that there is a world out there" (p239) is blatantly untrue; in fact, i find that most Australians are very much engaged in world affairs both internally and abroad, and I would go so far as to say that I think they are more well informed on most international matters than are Americans. I tend to think it is Americans who are more "disconnected," to quote Bryson here, and it is not the implied "distance" which is the cause, but a very controlled and closed media. The reason you don't hear anything about Australia in the US is simply because it is not of interest, it is not reported. Every Australian knows the name of the US President or the capital; however, ask the average American who is Australia's Prime Minister or where Canberra is and all you will get is a blank look in return. My only other quibble is that of the voice; i'm puzzled why Bryson would lend an Australian tone and slang to a book written from an obvoiusly American perspective? I would have prefered to hear "sweater" not jumper etc etc. as this lends to the authenticity of the author's work.

Overall, a beautifully written, comprehensive and detailed account of Van Diemans Land. Bryson sure has done a lot of hard homework in between beers, and it, as well as his love for Australia shows. Further, i am sure all Australians will be thankful to him for many years to come for documenting this place I call home.

I expected to hate the Australia book because of Bryson's general "I'm so funny" tone and my own disdain (unfortunately) for the majority of Australians I have met (no offense, Aussies, this is just my limited experience; most would share my disdain if they were trapped on a tour bus of "fun loving" (read: loud, crass and perpetually drunk) Aussies for a solid month). This book, though, looked at the subject, the history and landscape through a unique lens and was a rewarding read.

It occurs to me that Bryson is more in his depth/element in Australia or America, while his observations on Europe often read like deeply biased American obtuseness and insensitivity. Bryson's wit here, in Australia, and his own seemingly inexhaustible curiosity and apt descriptions of Australia as an amazing, far off, awe-inspiring land we in the rest of the world never see, hear of, or think about are all endearing.

Having never traveled to Australia, I am more tempted to do so after reading this book. To illustrate how little the rest of the world knows-I point out that in all my own travels/experiences, I have been to New Zealand but am always asked when I get back, "How was Australia?" as if the two countries are one and the same.

It is true that Bill Bryson is perhaps the type who would not always let the truth get in the way of a good story, and that not all of the facts in the book are entirely accurate, but overall you could not possibly say that this book is phenomenally bad. There are at least two segments that were hilarious, and Bryson keeps things entertaining. At its best the book could even be called brilliant-there's just something about the story of the two old people who emerge from the fog arguing only to wander off again. 3 stars.

Picked up this book after having heard it was funny, informative, and easy to read. Within the first few pages i became disillusioned! It's hard not to be really, when Mr Bryson refers to spiders as insects, and in his initial segment to point out "some facts", states that Australia is a single island continent. I'd be curious as to which continent New Zealand belongs to then? Maybe Australasia ceased to be in the day he lost crossing the date line? Having spent over a quater of a year in Oz some of his comments managed to make me chuckle, especially regarding Red Back Spiders, but on the whole i was disappointed. At the price, i'm not inspired to buy another of his titles.

As an Australian I am always interested in how others see our country. Mr Bryson notes that in 1996 from evidence in articles in the New York Times Australia was referred to about the same number of times as countries with a GDP about the size of New Jersey, which is to say not much at all. But he does concede that in terms of sporting success Australia per head of population Australia leads the world. For the first days of the 2004 Olympics it was China one, Australia two. Canada, perhaps a comparable country, but greater population, was in the twenties. We are also boring with Australia's dullest man as our Prime Minister. Mr Bryson covers all the usual suspects - sharks, snakes, crocodiles, insects, sea stinging creatures, rabbits, weird politicians such as Pauline Hanson, Jim Cairns and Jo Jhelke Peterson. But he does his homework, writes well, and does not condescend or patronize. I learned that I was born a British subject as Australian Citizenship did not exist until 1949, I learn that Aboriginal people were butchered and used as dog meat, that Myall Creek is famous not because Aboriginal people were slaughtered there but because six whites were hung for those deeds. But Mr Bryson also spends some time outlining unparalleled achievement of Aboriginal people being able to connect still with their cultural origins 40,000 years ago. I understood too that the ten year drought of 1890 was made much worse by the millions of rabbits (originally imported from Britain in 1850 for shooting fun) which had by that time devastated the land in combination with overgrazing by millions of sheep. Maybe the land has not yet recovered.
I hope Australians read this book. Lots of them.

I really enjoyed this book. II was so surprised when my grandparents bought me a book about Australia. I have always wanted to go there. This year our class is doing an international track where we do projects on our country, and so I'm putting this book on display.