BRYSON'S FINEST HOUR!!!!!! (Notes from a Big Country - Bill Bryson)

Member Name: GNU BOY

Product:	Notes from a Big Country - Bill Bryson
Date:	06/02/01 (90 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Full of humour, facts and, best of all, Bryson.

Disadvantages: You won't be able to put it down.

Bill Bryson’s popularity has skyrocketed in the last three years. It is hard to imagine why it has done in that period of time, but it is not hard to see why. Whether you are new to the genius of Bryson, or a seasoned traveller with him (if so you’ll know what I mean), this is a book that simply must be read.
The strange thing about this, Bryson’s greatest creation, is that it is written in a different format to any of his other travel books. Gone is the chronological order of events as he moves from place to place, and introduced is a collection of essays on his home nation. It would be easy to think a book of essays on the United States must be as interesting as a trip to the paint factory, but the fact is, this book is a fine, humourous account of what modern day America has become: commercial, greedy, excessive, even ignorant. Bryson is not writing as an armchair pundit who fancies an extra buck, he is writing as a concerned inhabitant of this partially great nation.
The classic Bryson style of writing is here, with warm human emotion mixed with classic one-liners at the end of each paragraph. Of particular interest is his list of reasons not to be sprayed by a skunk (‘it was weeks before anyone would walk down the same side of the street as her...’). This coupled with the incredible facts and history he includes (‘he spent virtually his whole term intoxicated...”Franklin Pierce, the hero of many a well fought bottle”.’) means an almost perfect recipe is complete. It is impossible not to be drawn in by the layout of this book, such as it is over eighty essays, each five pages long, covering a wealth of topics from the bizarre ways Americans are injured (400,000 by beds, mattresses and linen each year!) to the fact that ‘cupholders are taking over the States’. The reader is provided with a humourous insight into Bill’s (you feel like you know him) family life, from his En
glish wife who appears to wear the proverbial trousers; to his son Jimmy, who he at one point mentions is not actually called Jimmy.
As readers, we are drawn in by Bill’s one to one style of writing (‘I’ll tell you this,’ he says, ‘but you have to promise to keep it a secret’). He shares his experiences as if he is entertaining an old friend.
Of course, Bryson’s style of writing (and, it seems, of doing things) means matters are digressed at times, and he openly admits to dropping in facts and figures that are completely irrelevant to the subject at hand; and yet this only serves to add to the humour and character of the colection.
Bill Bryson is the world’s most read travel author, but as he admits himself, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. Bill did not get where he is by having a good marketing manager, he got there by being an intelligent, humourous and thoughtful author. It is ironic that Bryson’s finest book was one he did not even want to write: he was hassled into writing these essays for an English publication on a regular basis by a pushy editor. We as readers should thank our lucky stars that Bill did so. The fact that these essays are so short and absorbing means you can easily sit down for five minutes and soak one up. Perfect for reading alone, or even to family and friends, this is truly is a book to be enjoyed by all. Nobody should be without a copy. I really mean that.

Summary: