Bill Bryson Wrote The Second Funniest Book I Know

July 21, 2008

Book Review : The Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid. Travels Through My Childhood.

Back in the article, Bill Bryson Wrote The Funniest Book I Know, I wanted to tell you about the most hysterical book I have ever read, called A Walk In The Woods. I was just beginning Bryson’s latest book, The Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid when that article ended.

Our collective biography

If you recall any part of your childhood, you will meet your younger self in this book. It’s the account of a boy’s growing up in Iowa in the 1950s, but it’s the story of all of us. Wherever you grew up, small town or city, this book will feel like it’s partly about your life.

Linked to source.

We all remember comics and penny candy. All of us had, and still have, crazy relatives (have we now become the wild cards in our own families?) , not to mention the neighbor whose older brothers nearly blew up the city block with an experiment. I had forgotten how different the food was till I was reminded of Jello 1-2-3, a particular favorite in our family, and of course the ubiquitous Tang.

What people thought

I lived this experience from 1965-1975, so it was fascinating to read about the advent of long-distance telephone and other technologies. Bryson describes wonderfully how people received and used these tools, and the ways in which they wanted to experience them, while marketing departments and corporations tried to keep up.

Linked to source.

This is such a comfortable read, like going back to a time when the world was a safer place, though in many ways it wasn’t. No topic is entirely a comedy. Bryson brings in the tensions and conflicts of the time and place he writes about. In this case, since much of it is history now, it feels a little heartrending to read about the Cold War and the US government’s liberties and secrecies with the testing of bombs. These activities resulted in places that remain uninhabitable today – to say nothing of the destruction, death, and disease that they caused at the time.

In the back of a blue Rambler

This is a story of family road trips, like the one our family took to Cape Cod each year. Three children packed, or more correctly loose, in the back of a blue Rambler, with Grandma (who spoke only Russian) in the back seat complaining all the way, we left Montreal and spent 3 weeks at Cape Cod each summer.

Linked to source.

As I recall, there was a cat shedding tapeworm segments with us one year. Somewhere in Maine, the animal noticed that the window was open a crack on my mother’s side and tried to escape. Picture my mother holding the cat by one leg with the rest of the animal dangling against the outside of the window, and my father intentionally swerving the car so the cat could get away and never be seen again. Dad was probably wishing it could be him instead of the cat.

We are now the Moms and Dads

We all had parents who did funny and eccentric things, but as kids, we took it in stride. It never occurred to us that it should be another way. Now, I know this is me. I will be remembered as the mother (and the aunt) who wore the out-there clothes that were nice and ugly at the same time, always had sunscreen to hand around, and could get a little tense if her cage was rattled.

This book evokes a simplicity of life before unabashed consumerism consumed us. Bryson watches the transition from that era to the TV – obsessed, easily aroused, acquisition-oriented culture we have become.

This is the most perfectly agreeable place to spend a summer day. It revives someone we used to be when the days were, if not easy, then uncomplicated. As a bonus, we meet Stephen Katz from A Walk In The Woods in his formative years. Beyond funny, and true!

Linked to source.

Bill, for the fine and sensitive writer that you are, and for awakening so many long-buried memories in anyone who reads this lovely book, I hereby dub you an honorary woman. You among men will grasp the power that this confers.

And, no, there will not be a future article called “Bill Bryson Wrote The Third Funniest Book I Know”. Although there could be.

Posted by Christine Scaman | Filed Under Happiness

Comments

4 Responses to “Bill Bryson Wrote The Second Funniest Book I Know”

Rachel B. on July 21st, 2008 9:51 am

I’m on a bill bryson kick right now, and I have to say that his book on Australia, In a Sunburned Country, is soooo funny! By far his funniest IMO. I thought A Walk in the Woods was just OK but the Australia one had me laughing and laughing. Have you read it?

PS I found your blog through Paula’s Choice newsletter and I really love it.
Bobbie Hampson on July 22nd, 2008 10:26 am

My book club members’ ages range in age from their 40s to their 70s. EVERYONE found something to love in this wonderful book; it piqued all our memories, and we enjoyed sharing our reactions and personal reminiscenses.
Christine Scaman on July 22nd, 2008 7:24 pm

Hi, Rachel,

I’ve read Down Under, which is about Australia. I have a feeling that In A Sunburned Country is the same book released under a new title. Do you know?
Interesting that your reactions to his books were opposite to mine. I found AWITW hysterical while the book on Australia didn’t have me laughing so much.
Glad you’re enjoying the blog : )

Bobbie – I agree! Somehow, Bryson seems to have written about all of us in this remarkable yet very simple book. I saw today in a bookstore a book of his about the life of William Shakespeare. I don’t know when that one was published. Do you know it?
Bobbie Hampson on July 23rd, 2008 7:52 pm

Clearly, I’m going to have to add Bill Bryson to my agenda when I make my next book store fun! I know he has a book about the English language. More later…so many books, so little time!

Christine, I have been enjoying your website very much. Like Rachel, I learned about you from Paula Begoun.