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Best Sellers | | |  | |  | | | The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir | | SKU:
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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | “Bill Bryson’s laugh-out-loud pilgrimage through his Fifties childhood in heartland America is a national treasure. It’s full of insights, wit, and wicked adolescent fantasies.”
—Tom Brokaw “Bryson is unparalleled in his ability to cut a culture off at the knees in a way that is so humorous and so affectionate that those being ridiculed are laughing too hard to take offense.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“A cross between de Tocqueville and Dave Barry, Bryson writes about…America in a way that’s both trenchantly observant and pound-on-the-floor, snort-root-beer-out-of-your-nose funny.”
—San Franciso Examiner
“Bill Bryson could write an essay about dryer lint or fever reducers and still make us laugh out loud.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“Bryson is…great company…a lumbering, droll, neatnik intellectual who comes off as equal parts Garrison Keillor, Michael Kinsley, and…Dave Barry.”
—New York Times Book Review | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Bill Bryson | | Paperback: | 288 pages | | Publisher: | Broadway | | Publication Date: | September 25, 2007 | | ISBN: | 0767919378 | | Package Length: | 7.9 inches | | Package Width: | 5.1 inches | | Package Height: | 0.8 inches | | Package Weight: | 0.6 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 56 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review:
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 The Thunderbird Kid Sep 07, 2008
I really enjoyed this book, remembering the 50s. Brought back some fond memories. We chose this book for our book Club, and will discuss it tomorow. It was an easy read.
Heart-warming Sep 06, 2008
Bryson is well-known for his travelogues but here he takes us through his growing up years. All things mundane related to childhood turn interesting and are set aglow when touched by his genial wit. Bryson's companionable style is evident in this very entertaining memoir which is also a tribute to a much safer, much more innocent, and much more personable lifestyle of 1950s America. At times warm, at times wise, at times nostalgic, and always funny, this is a heart-warming chronicle of childhood by a gifted humourist which brings back cherished memories of our own.
 A Must Read for Anyone Who even touched the 50's Sep 05, 2008
If you spent any time in the 50's this will be a laugh out loud perspective that will not disappoint. Bryson is smart, funny and just has a gift for narrative.
The humor may be more appealing to males but I am not really sure.
Enjoy this treat.
Nuclear Wishes & Thunderbolt Dreams Aug 29, 2008
It's a historical text book wrapped in a delightful tale of a "regular" kid from the 1950s. And I will say, funny, funny, funny. I was reading it on an airplane and I was laughing out loud almost to the point of my embarrassment. Bryson is very sharp. He supplements his childhood anecdotes with (sometimes shocking) historical facts. He successfully juxtaposes the good and the bad. Every time I turned the page, I wished America could return to a "simpler" time and then I'd turn another page and count my blessings that we have moved on. It made me long for the smell of grammar school coat closets and thank goodness we weren't all blown to pieces with a nuclear holocaust.
If you like TV, toys, kids, adults, baseball, movies, state fairs, underage drinking, family vacations, teenage pranks or anything relating to history at all, I would recommend this book as a must read.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A Trip Down Memory Lane Aug 19, 2008
My son has been raving about Bill Bryson's for some time now, but I was not sure that they would appeal to me. After hearing others rave about his memoir: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, I thought this might be a fun audio book. I am sorry I waited so long to try Bryson's work.
This memoir was terrific. It leaves you with a feeling of appreciation for the simple things in life. Bill Bryson and I were born a year apart, and as baby boomers growing up in the 50's and 60's, I found this memoir to be a trip down memory lane. He talks about his mom's bad cooking, his strange relatives, going to the store for penny candy (candy cigarettes), playing outdoors until dark, first crushes, Saturday at the movies, loss of innocence etc. He could be describing a whole lot of baby boomers in this memoir. This book is hysterical, and there were many times I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. The audio version is highly recommended.
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