Thursday, January 20, 2011

52 Books - Book 4 - The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir


Following a string of fiction pieces, I decided to go the non-fiction route this time and chose this funny little gem written by Bill Bryson. I first fell in love with Bryson’s humor in A Walk in the Woods a few years back and was pleased to discover that this, tales of his childhood growing up in the 1950s in small town America, was wonderfully entertaining as well.

Bryson not only spins fabulous, and no doubt slightly exaggerated, yarns about he and his friends’ childhood antics, but he also gives a great history lesson of what it was like to live in the 1950s. He tells of the world’s newly-found fascination with atomic bombs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the revelation the smoking was bad for your health, the invasion of television to the average middle class household, and describes the effect that all of these happenings had on the lives of the average American family.

It’s certainly not a thrilling page turner, but if you’re looking for something light and humorous that will make even someone not born until 1979 (me!) long for days gone by, this would be great.

4 comments:

  1. Cat, You are the quickest reader! I am currently reading The Hunger Games trilogy per Chris' recommendation, I enjoy them so far!

    For autobiographies, a co-worker recommended Richard Branson's and Keith Richard's - they are both crazy people in their own right, so I'm sure they are entertaining!

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  2. A Walk in the Woods is one of my faves - I have had a hard time getting into Bryson's other works.

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  3. Cheree, I laughed out loud more reading A Walk in the Woods than any other book I think. Still crack up picturing Katz keeping all the candy bars and tossing coffee filters off the cliff. What a great book!

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  4. My husband and I read it out loud on a trip to Searcy (when we were living in NC). It definitely kept us entertained!

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