The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

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From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the 1950s

Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24-carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as "The Thunderbolt Kid."

Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality—a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. He brings us into the life of his loving but eccentric family, including affectionate portraits of his father, a gifted sportswriter for the local paper and dedicated practitioner of isometric exercises, and OF his mother, whose job as the home furnishing editor for the same paper left her little time for practicing the domestic arts at home. The many readers of Bill Bryson’s earlier classic, A Walk in the Woods, will greet the reappearance in these pages of the immortal Stephen Katz, seen hijacking literally boxcar loads of beer. He is joined in the Bryson gallery of immortal characters by the demonically clever Willoughby brothers, who apply their scientific skills and can-do attitude to gleefully destructive ends.

Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, and full of his inimitable, pitch-perfect observations, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is as wondrous a book as Bill Bryson has ever written. It will enchant anyone who has ever been young.

What Customers Say About The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir:

Bryson's "Thunderbolt Kid" does more to recapture the pure fun of an American boyhoodin 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 downtownsto go to. Read it.

Laughed and laughed. but it was also right on the mark for those of us growing up in the 50's.

Despite his age, he is able to recall many moments in his life with a vivid, humorous eye. My English teacher, the always unique Thomas Moudry, read it to us over a course of weeks. This isn't the type of book you'd see a 17-year-old read, so how'd I come by it. 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. 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. 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.

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.

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. Perhaps it is that bittersweet aspect of it all that makes this book less of a laugher for me.

And I do enjoy the writing in this book. However.why am I not laughing so hard at this book.

I do enjoy Bryson's writing, and have thoroughly enjoyed his other work. I, like him, feel keenly the passing of a world and a way of life that was decent and enjoyable.

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 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. 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.