Bill Bryson/Humor

[golfgod]

zugor wrote;

I can't recall the exact title of the first Bryson book I encountered but it was about the English language and how it got that way

"The Mother Tongue, English and How it Got That Way". This is a great read and I'm always on the prowl for my own copy, even though I've read it 4 times, I want to own it.

All of his stuff has great "hidden" laugh out loud lines in it, if you truly "read for meaning". In his travels around the British Isles he wrote about "The Aurora Flyer" (I think that was the name anyway) which is a train that "set the land speed record for (?? city) to London (300 miles or so) of 24 hours back in 184?. He wrote; "British Rail can do it in 1/2 that today".

About the cathedral in Cologne (Koln, umlaut over the o) he wrote; they built this in about 50 years, and this was back in the 13th century, with 13th century tools and manpower, in England they'd still be digging the footings".

Stuff like that cracks me up.

golfgod

[grace07]

Originally Posted by pinetreelover

I loved a Walk in the Woods! I am currently reading The Geography of Bliss - One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner - if you like Bill Bryson, you'll probably enjoy this book as well!

I loved Geography of Bliss!

I've wanted to read something by Bill Bryson for awhile -- any recommendations for which of his books I should read first? I've been looking at A Short History of Nearly Everything and A Walk in the Woods.

[nancy thereader]

My favorite was A Walk in the Woods , too. Just his commentaries . . ..
Wouldn't you love to sit down and have lunch with him? He really is so wry &
literate.

[MissLariss]

I have only read three of his books but count myself a huge fan of his! A Walk in the Woods was also my favorite so far but I laughed harder than I can ever remember at some of his essays in I'm a Stranger Here Myself. I didn't enjoy A Short History of Nearly Everything, though I don't remember why. I don't remember anything about the book actually so that should tell you something...

[brubaker]

'A Short History of Nearly Everything' is fantastic.

Hilarious author...but I totally take him with a grain of salt as he seems to be full o' beans.

In a good way.

I love how he drops cuss words into an otherwise polished and genteel paragraph for maximum effect.

A real master of the art.



Love him.

I want to read Mother Tongue and his African Diary next...if I have time outside of school.

[fleetiebelle]

If you like Bill Bryson, you might like some of Tony Horwitz's travel books. He wrote Confederates in the Attic and Blue Latitudes (and some others I haven't gotten to yet.) He's not as laugh-out-loud funny as Bryson, but he is an engaging writer.