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neverlonely 's review for:
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
by Bill Bryson
At first I was afraid this was going to be similar to "In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash" by Jean Shepherd, which I quit reading because I found that story to be episodic and the humor forced. I'm glad now that I stuck with this. I actually laughed out loud and had tears streaming down my face when I read Bryson's description of Dick and Jane's visit to Grandfather's farm in Chapter 8.
My issue with Bill Bryson is his fondness for bathroom humor. F@r+ jokes (I detest that word so much that I cannot even bring myself to type it), "toity" and BM jokes, Lumpy's incontinence. Is it a guy thing? I just don't get it. I also didn't like when he randomly threw in a totally unnecessary Fu(k (another F-word I cannot bring myself to type). It didn't enhance his storytelling; rather, it detracted from it.
On the other hand, this book is astonishingly well-researched. I learned so much - about atomic testing (scary)and McCarthyism (scarier)among other topics. And I was inspired to do a little research on my own. I found some "Sarong" ads online and read more in-depth about Jacobo Arbenz and United Fruit.
In my head I divided this book into 2 categories: Things I learned (see above) and Things that reminded me of my own childhood. I am several years younger than Bill Bryson, but close enough in age to have some of the same memories. I actually dug out my partially completed U S Savings Stamps album.
Overall, this was a satisfying trip down memory lane.
My issue with Bill Bryson is his fondness for bathroom humor. F@r+ jokes (I detest that word so much that I cannot even bring myself to type it), "toity" and BM jokes, Lumpy's incontinence. Is it a guy thing? I just don't get it. I also didn't like when he randomly threw in a totally unnecessary Fu(k (another F-word I cannot bring myself to type). It didn't enhance his storytelling; rather, it detracted from it.
On the other hand, this book is astonishingly well-researched. I learned so much - about atomic testing (scary)and McCarthyism (scarier)among other topics. And I was inspired to do a little research on my own. I found some "Sarong" ads online and read more in-depth about Jacobo Arbenz and United Fruit.
In my head I divided this book into 2 categories: Things I learned (see above) and Things that reminded me of my own childhood. I am several years younger than Bill Bryson, but close enough in age to have some of the same memories. I actually dug out my partially completed U S Savings Stamps album.
Overall, this was a satisfying trip down memory lane.