 2009-01-06 - Thunderbolt Kid Entertains
Bryson's "Thunderbolt Kid" does more to recapture the pure fun of an American boyhood
in the mid-West of the 50s than any memoir you can think of. He reminds you of the view
from about 4 feet high, and the excitement of "going downtown" when there were downtowns
to go to. Read it!
2008-12-21 - Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Laughed and laughed! but it was also right on the mark for those of us growing up in the 50's.
2008-12-09 - A great read, regardless of what decade you were born in.
This isn't the type of book you'd see a 17-year-old read, so how'd I come by it? My English teacher, the always unique Thomas Moudry, read it to us over a course of weeks. At first the premise sounded boring, because I associate the 1950's with boring, but boy, was I wrong. My teacher knows what is good.
In this memoir, Bill Bryson, who writes travel books, takes us to his childhood in Des Moines, Iowa, where it almost seems like a different world. Despite his age, he is able to recall many moments in his life with a vivid, humorous eye. He uses the persona as a superhero called the Thunderbolt Kid in some parts to spice things up, but even without that, it still will intrigue you, especially those like me who grew up in the 90's and 2000's, where corporations have taken over small towns and where technology was a black and white television. You will get so wrapped up in Bryson's world, from his stingy dad to his many misadventures, that when the book ends, you will have a hard time letting go. So if you see this on a bookshelf, pick it up and prepare to laugh.
2008-12-05 - What a delight
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Brought back so many memories and can't remember the last time I laughed so hard. Bryson's comedic timing was supurb, and his descriptions so acurate. I want to share this experience with others, just can't decide who I should lend it to first.
 2008-11-17 - Maybe its not quite my era
I do enjoy Bryson's writing, and have thoroughly enjoyed his other work. And I do enjoy the writing in this book. However...why am I not laughing so hard at this book? My boyhood in the 60s was just under ten years removed from the world Bryson describes. Yet so much of what he describes was real about my world, too. I, like him, feel keenly the passing of a world and a way of life that was decent and enjoyable. Perhaps it is that bittersweet aspect of it all that makes this book less of a laugher for me. I have to say that the book brought back many fond memories for me, and evoked a time when we all rode bicycles without helmets, collected pop bottles for cash, avidly read comic books, etc. Granted, there are darker aspects of that era that we are better for leaving behind, but what have we lost from the middle part of the twentieth century, and what will we lose from the current era? So, I put this book down and sigh, and reflect on this and other questions, and I don't laugh as hard as I did with his other books.
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