Bill Bryson

'Funny, wise, learned and compulsive' - GQ Bill Bryson turns away from travelling the highways and byways of middle America, so hilariously depicted in his bestselling The Lost Continent, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and Notes from a Big Country, for a fast, exhilarating ride along the Route 66 of American language and popular culture. In Made in America, Bryson tells the story of how American arose out of the English language, and along the way, de-mythologizes his native land - explaining how a dusty desert hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how they were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up - as well as exposing the true origins of the words G-string, blockbuster, poker and snafu. 'A tremendously sassy work, full of zip, pizzazz and all those other great American qualities' Will Self, Independent on Sunday

An Informal History of American English

Made in America

Bill Bryson, who gave glorious voice to The Mother Tongue, now celebrates her magnificent offspring in the book that reveals once and for all how a dusty western hamlet with neither woods nor holly came to be known as Hollywood...and exactly why Mr. Yankee Doodle call his befeathered cap "Macaroni."

A long but interesting read. Definitely one to read in bursts

Wilde

Mary Rose Luksha

I read Bryson's other study on the English language, The Mother Tongue, previously and absolutely loved it. But, I am a huge grammar and language nerd, so loving that book isn't much of a stretch. In the Introduction of Made in America Bryson expressly tells the reader he's going to write most things through anecdotes because he found that was the best way of explaining American vocabulary. In terms of reaching the widest audience, I agree completely. The anecdotes made it easy to read so if someone is curious about American English, but is afraid of being bored or technically-termed-out, then this is the book for you. But I found towards the end of the book it was less about the language and more stories from American history that didn't bring much new knowledge of the language, but he did have some interesting stories about American figures. His first book, The Mother Tongue, was 5 out of 5 for me, but Made in America was 4 out of 5.

Rose Stanley

If you like: 
(a) Bill Bryson
(b) history
(c) language
(d) ALL OF THE ABOVE
...then read this!

Made in America An Informal History of American English

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