Born in Des Moines in 1951, Bill Bryson left for England in 1973 between semesters at Drake University. What began as a summer abroad became a 20-year sojourn: he got married and started a family, and began a career in journalism, taking writing posts at the Times and the Independent. He also laid the foundations for what would become a highly successful travel-writing career. Returning to the United States in 1989, Bryson chronicled an inspired visitation of the family vacations of his youth, w more...
Born in Des Moines in 1951, Bill Bryson left for England in 1973 between semesters at Drake University. What began as a summer abroad became a 20-year sojourn: he got married and started a family, and began a career in journalism, taking writing posts at the Times and the Independent. He also laid the foundations for what would become a highly successful travel-writing career. Returning to the United States in 1989, Bryson chronicled an inspired visitation of the family vacations of his youth, which resulted in THE LOST CONTINENT. At first wary of Bryson's often self-deprecating and wry humor, critics have since been won over by his consistency, energy, and humor. He has produced a number of travelogues, all with his hallmark wit and attention to detail. In addition to his writings on travel, Bryson has also written and contributed to texts on language. Often ranked with Theroux and company--and sporting his own fan club--Bryson lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with his family.less...
Conrad wrote a review on A Short History of Nearly Everything
Alternating between fascinating descriptions of the world of astronomy and physics and tedious discussions of geology and botany, Bryson takes on an impressive explanatory task. His strength is accessibility for the reader, he takes intricate theories and phenomena and depicts them in a straightforward manner, accompanied with examples and portrayed images that assist in relaying complicated information. The account is filled with numerous anecdotal tidbits, some of suspect authority, but many are memorable. My three problems with this book are: 1) The extended discussion of geophysics, which is obviously my own problem, I just felt that the book really dragged in certain sections while I flew through others. And even some of those felt repetitive, which is again my problem just because I already knew some of the material he covered. 2) His obsession with denying certain scientists credit and trying to grant the correct innovator with his ideas. It as though Bryson thinks almost every tale of scientific discovery has been miscredited, but now, here, he will authoritatively set the record straight and finally give some overlooked scientists their due. While many of these may be true, Bryson misattributes other discoveries himself as well. 3) Fear-mongering. I guess he wants to make it more interesting or try to show how precarious our life situation is and therefore how amazing life is, but there were too many passages of ominous forecasts. Telling me that we are 1,000 years overdue for an ice-age, or that the next volcanic eruption could blot out the sky in ash just isn't going to keep me up at night. Try putting that stuff in Reader’s Digest. They love to scare their audience.
Alternating between fascinating descriptions of the world of astronomy and physics and tedious discussions of geology and botany, Bryson takes on an impressive explanatory task. His strength is accessibility for the reader, he takes intricate theories and phenomena and depicts them in a straightforward manner, accompanied with examples and portrayed images that assist in relaying complicated information. The account is filled with numerous anecdotal tidbits, some of suspect authority, but many are memorable. My three problems with this book are: 1) The extended discussion of geophysics, which is obviously my own problem, I just felt that the book really dragged in certain sections while I flew through others. And even some of those felt repetitive, which is again my problem just because I already knew some of the material he covered. 2) His obsession with denying certain scientists credit and trying to grant the correct innovator with his ideas. It as though Bryson thinks almost every tale of scientific discovery has been miscredited, but now, here, he will authoritatively set the record straight and finally give some overlooked scientists their due. While many of these may be true, Bryson misattributes other discoveries himself as well. 3) Fear-mongering. I guess he wants to make it more interesting or try to show how precarious our life situation is and therefore how amazing life is, but there were too many passages of ominous forecasts. Telling me that we are 1,000 years overdue for an ice-age, or that the next volcanic eruption could blot out the sky in ash just isn't going to keep me up at night. Try putting that stuff in Reader’s Digest. They love to scare their audience.