Oh say can you read? (Made in America - Bill Bryson)

Name: davidbuttery

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Product:	Made in America - Bill Bryson
Date:	15/08/02 (234 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great deal of information, never gets boring

Disadvantages: Not the hilarious laugh-fest you might be led to expect

Bill Bryson is probably best known in this country for his travel writings, especially "Notes From a Small Island" (though in my view "The Lost Continent" is still to be bettered). But, somewhat less known to most people, he is also an accomplished linguist, and "Made In America" is an excellent advertisement for his skills in this department.

The idea of the book is to explain, for a mainly British audience (Bryson's books sell very poorly in his native US, perhaps because some - *some!* - Statesiders have trouble with anything that isn't of the "ain't the good ol' US of A jes' wunnerful?" school), the origin of various American words and phrases. It sounds, on the face of it, a fairly un-Bryson like subject, but he succeeds in making it fascinating, if not quite as hilarious as some of his other books. (I must say, I do worry about the Glasgow Herald reviewer, quoted on the back cover, who called it "the funniest book I read all year" and mentioned "rib-aching, carpet-rolling bouts of laughter". Doesn't this man get out much, then?)

The book is split into 21 reasonably brief chapters, each dealing with a broad subject (travel, shopping, eating etc), and arranged in (very rough) chronological order, so that we start with "Before the Mayflower" and end with "American English Today". In between the two extremes, we are subjected to a never-ending torrent of American neologisms of the last 500 years, but not in dry lists and tables. Instead, the words and phrases are cleverly worked into a gripping narrative, which prevents the all too common feeling of information overload.

Bryson's gift for anecdotes is employed to full effect here. If there is an interesting snippet to be told, at least vaguely relevant to the point in hand, then we are given what is often a chuckle-inducing illustration. For example, he treats us to the glory of th
e Burma-Shave advertising signs. These American icons of the 1930s, 40s and 50s were in the form of advertising signs placed at intervals by the side of a road, so that at cruising speed they would form a continuous message. Such as: "Shaving brushes / You'll soon see 'em / Way down South / In some museum". Bryson is clearly taken by these signs (for one thing, he remembers them from his youth, as Bryson fans may already be aware), and I can't help but agree. (If you're hooked too, www.nidlink.com/~dgookin/burma_shave has huge numbers of these things for your amusement.)

Although the book is not designed as an academic work, it does make a good reference book, for three reasons. Firstly, the sheer number of American terms covered - I really don't know how Bryson managed to achieve this density of information without turning the book into a dictionary. Secondly, there are copious footnotes - one chapter has no less than 61. I normally prefer footnotes to be in the main text, but when there are this many, a separate "Notes" section at the back of the book is the only option. The last point in the book's favour is its excellent index. This may not seem particularly unusual, but there have been an increasing number of works published recently with either a very basic index or, worse, none at all. There is no excuse for this laziness (even The Lord of the Rings has an index, y'know), and it's pleasing that Bryson has done things properly.

Moving now from impartial reviewing to pure prejudice, I think the best chapter in "Made in America" is the one on American placenames. This is a subject that can always raise a smile, and here is no exception. We may think that the US today has some... er... interesting placenames - Who'd A Thought It, Alabama; Cut And Shoot, Texas; and Tightwad, Missouri are all genuine current examples. But that's as nothing to what there used to be. California al
one once boasted Delirium Tremens, Chicken Thief Flat and the wonderfully evocative Git-Up-And-Git, not to mention a whole slew of others not suitable for publication on a family website! (Whether Dooyoo qualifies for that honour I'll leave up to you!)

"Made in America" manages to steer a skilful course between musty academia and populist sensationalism, and as such will be of most interest to the intelligent layperson who is interested in language in general, and enjoys an informative read with plenty of interesting diversions (I suppose that should be "detours!). In my family, we have a word, "wodgeful" - a term used for books that have a lot of detail, but are not by any means tiring to read. "Made in America" fits this description perfectly, and so long as you don't expect a laugh-a-minute romp (pace the Glasgow Herald), you'll be well pleased with this book.

pub. Black Swan, 1998
ISBN: 0-552-998052

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