Bill Bryson

A Memoir

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

Elizabeth Moore

Great read! Bryson tends to get a tad political in his writing as his pieces stretch on, but depending on your views this element of his style may or may not bother you.

This is my 6th book by Bryson and it is quite different from the others as it is the first non-travel-focused piece I've gotten through, but I still loved it. Rather than give a breakdown and overview of the layout and nuances of a specific region, he does so with the city of DeMoines through its growth from mid-century to present, and also, consequently, his own childhood.

The piece is great for those interested in post-Depression, pre-Vietnam American history, and a wonderful library addition if you are already a Bryson fan. It is every bit as funny as the rest of his repertoire and gives a fantastic background on an established author.

2 favorite anecdotes were the "Toity Jar" incident and the story about the hole in his uncle Larry's forehead...

Brian Alderman

What a wonderful journey into the imagination and thoughts of a kid growing up in the 1950s and 60s. At first, I didn't get it. But as the book went on I fell into the enchanting perspective of the world through the Thunderbolt Kid's eyes. This is an intriguing tale of memory, history, storytelling, imagination, and childhood.

Phil James

I'd read anything by Bill Bryson, he makes me laugh without fail. Even if he wrote out his shopping list I'm sure he'd make it funny, unfortunately this is more or less what he falls back on a bit too often. 
The unique circumstances of a fifties american childhood are captured with an alien anthropologist's eye but the lists of products or TV shows I could have done without.

Frederik Creemers

Tom Ryke

Kahli Scott

Dennis Jacob Rosenfeld

John Holton

Erik Wallace

Jill Clark

Caitlin Hooker

Fallstreak

Sang Park

Caitlin Bohannon

Elizabeth Clement

Simon Mathieu

Sara Piteira 

Amanda S

Kathy Rodger 

Jessie

Jane McCullough

Some say that the first hint that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came when his mother sent him to school in lime-green Capri pants. Others think it all started with his discovery, at the age of six, of a woollen jersey of rare fineness. Across the moth-holed chest was a golden thunderbolt. It may have looked like an old college football sweater, but young Bryson knew better. It was obviously the Sacred Jersey of Zap, and proved that he had been placed with this innocuous family in the middle of America to fly, become invisible, shoot guns out of people's hands from a distance, and wear his underpants over his jeans in the manner of Superman. Bill Bryson's first travel book opened with the immortal line, 'I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.' In his deeply funny new memoir, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, and the curious world of 1950s America. It was a happy time, when almost everything was good for you, including DDT, cigarettes and nuclear fallout. This is a book about growing up in a specific time and place. But in Bryson's hands, it becomes everyone's story, one that will speak volumes - especially to anyone who has ever been young.

Connor B

Angelina Thomson

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid A Memoir

Reviews