Bill Bryson
Hardcover | Pages: 288 pages Rating: 3.94 | 54009 Users | 4582 Reviews
Define Books During The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
| Original Title: | The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir |
| ISBN: | 076791936X (ISBN13: 9780767919364) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | United States of America |
Ilustration To Books The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
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 1950sBill 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.
Describe Of Books The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
| Title | : | The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid |
| Author | : | Bill Bryson |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 288 pages |
| Published | : | October 17th 2006 by Broadway Books (first published 2006) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Autobiography. Memoir. Humor. Biography. Audiobook. Biography Memoir |
Rating Of Books The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Ratings: 3.94 From 54009 Users | 4582 ReviewsAssess Of Books The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
I'm a big fan of Bill Bryson's writing, but this one was both uplifting and saddening at the same time. The premise of the book is how Bill learned to see a country be wooed by the siren song of prosperity through the guise of his own internal superhero persona, the Thunderbolt Kid. This is an engaging book which takes the reader back to simpler times, with plenty of Bryson's characteristic laugh-out-loud funny moments to go around. The Thunderbolt Kid persona is really a subtitle to the mainMy son has been raving about Bill Bryson's for some time now, but I was not sure that they would appeal to me. After hearing others rave about his memoir: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, I thought this might be a fun audio book. I am sorry I waited so long to try Bryson's work.This memoir was terrific. It leaves you with a feeling of appreciation for the simple things in life. Bill Bryson and I were born a year apart, and as baby boomers growing up in the 50's and 60's, I found this
America, the 1950s, and the golden age of plenty.Welcome to the world of Bill Bryson - the original Thunderbolt Kid. News paper clipping...SPRINGFIELD, ILL. (AP)The State Senate of Illinois yesterday disbanded its Committee on Efficiency and Economy for reasons of efficiency and economy.Des Moines Tribune, February 6, 1955Bill recalls life from a child's viewpoint as America expanded into the world.I CANT IMAGINE there has ever been a more gratifying time or place to be alive than America in the
There are definitely laugh out loud portions of this book, particularly the sections on elementary school and cinema matinees.Bryson captures with feeling the atmosphere of the 50s. There were a lot of kids in the 50s and early sixties. Stores and downtowns were different. There is a kind of Peanuts quality to this era. There was a security blanket which is now lost.Bryson does extend the truth and it is difficult at times to know how stretched out the exaggerations are kids building bombs in
The Gallup Poll people apparently have established that 1957 was the happiest year for people living in America. (I think we can assume that Gallup means middle class white people.) THUNDERBOLT KID is Bill Bryson's remembrance of his childhood in those happy times.Bryson grew up in Des Moines IA, in the bucolic 1950s. His childhood was largely unremarkable, but he is such a talented story teller that reading him recount episodes of childhood is unfailingly entertaining and, often, laugh out loud
Like every other Bill Bryson book I've read, this one is utterly delightful, hilarious, endearing and charming. I'm sure my husband grew tired of hearing me laugh out loud when I would stay up late reading, but I couldn't help it -- Bryson's stories are too funny to hold in the giggles.There's also a good bit of U.S. history in the book to ground the chapters, but Bryson even manages to make the Cuban missile crisis and the threat of nuclear annihilation seem humorous.This book would make a
Book ReviewThe Life and Times of the Thunderbolt KidBy Bill BrysonReviewed by Tom CarricoI am not usually one to enjoy a memoir. There always seems to be a certain smugness that someone must possess to have the audacity to think that their story is better than, well, mine. This memoir, however, is different. Bill Brysons childhood ruminations could belong to anybody who grew up in the 1950s. Change Des Moines, Iowa to Arlington, Virginia and this story could even be mine. If you are under 40 you
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