The Road to Little Dribbling - Bill Bryson

60%
18.08.16

Bill Bryson is one of the very few authors to make me laugh out loud and bore anyone around me with choice phrases. After lending this book to my mum and her partner, it seems I'm not the only one. But it did seem a rather a filler between more meaty volumes (though after writing the history of the universe, it's unclear how much more meat is available to Bryson), and a little incoherent - but great fun and slightly insightful all the same.

Shakespeare - Bill Bryson

60%
31.12.07



Always thorough in his research, and engaging in its transmission, Bryson is a good choice to write a biography of Shakespeare, even if it's not really what the world needs. This slim volume distills several centuries of scholarship and conjecture into a clear overview of what is known of Shakespeare's life - but as that is hardly anything, Bryson must expand on others' theories. Only occasionally does he let himself loose with superatives - generally, a level-headed account.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Bill Bryson

65%
20.06.07




Bryson accomplishes his dissections of given subjects so effortlessly that it's amost as if he isn't trying. Perhaps he doesn't need to try - he just seems to be naturally satirical and genuinely funny.

A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson

68%
31.10.04

An extraordinary piece of research and exaplanation, recasting science in terms of characters and emotion. The result is both fascinating and readable, although it's not always clear how accurate a particular statement might be. It's so carefully constructed that you'd think he'd credit his editor in the acknowledgements but it seems that, as usual, the heroic efforts of the backroom staff go unnoticed. Otherwise, fabulous.

Notes from a Big Country - Bill Bryson

65%
29.11.03

It's currently trendy to praise Michael Moore's dark criticism of US politics, and the softer satire of Bill Bryson has often been ignored. However, this collection of newspaper columns offers illuminating chunks of everyday American culture, which is perhaps a more realistic view of what it's like to live in the US today. And often, beneath the suburban humour, the political sharpness still makes a valid showing.