Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
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. ...
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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.
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Format: mass market paperback
ISBN:
9780552155465 (0552155462)
Publish date: 2007-06-01
Publisher: Black Swan
Pages no: 414
Edition language: English
I wasn't really sure about this book because while Bryson's story about his trek around the continental United States was very entertaining, and quite informative, the idea about reading about somebody's childhood didn't really appeal to me – I've never been a big fan of autobiographies (or biograph...
Welcome to Des Moines, Iowa and the 1950s! There are some things you should be afraid of (mainly Communism, teenagers, and comic books not approved by the Comics Code Authority). But, no need to worry! The Thunderbolt Kid (aka Bill Bryson) will be your trusty tour guide. Ah, the 50s—a time when ci...
I thought this was a fun, slightly whimsical look at growing up in the 1950s in the midwest. I found it especially interesting because I have lived in Iowa all my life, and in Des Moines for the past 14 years, so I know all of the locations mentioned in the book. I have a feeling that in real life B...
I very much enjoyed this memoir of Bill Bryson's childhood in Iowa read by the author on audiobook. A delightfully nostalgic look back to 1950s America and a charmed eccentric childhood.“It’s a bit burned,” my mother would say apologetically at every meal, presenting you with a piece of meat that lo...
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 anthropo...