The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Friday, May 16, 2008

Challenges
What's in a Name (Thunderbolt)
Book Around the States (Iowa)
In Their Shoes
Bill Bryson hilarious book is a great walk through memory lane, especially the 50's. Bryson shares his "slightly" exaggerated memories of growing up (he was born in 195l) in Des Moines, Iowa. I laughed so often at the antics of this boy and his imagination. The Thunderbolt Kid is his non de plume and he withers sarcastic adults and flatulent friends with his Thunder Glare. Along with the humor are some great trivia items about Des Moines and how it has changed since the idyllic days of Bryson's boyhood, the world at large, communism and McCarthyism, and the nuclear terror. We tend to think life was so much better then, but perhaps not. Besides the strange things happening in the world, Bryson fills us in on the cholestrol-laden eating habits of the fifties, the cigarettes and second-hand smoke and low-budget horror movies. Even though the facts were interesting and the stories funny, the book itself lost interest for me after a while. I think it's a book to pick up and read occasionally, and that's not my style. Also, I found the use of the F-bomb when describing the thoughts of a five or six-year-old boy disconcerting and unnecessary. I don't care for profanity much anyway and felt it truly detracted from this book.
I had also listed this book for the Nonfiction Challenge, but after reading it; I couldn't justify the non-fiction genre. It may be Bryson's memoir, but . . . I guess I'll find another nonfiction.
Rating: 3.5
Posted by Framed at 8:36 PM

7 comments:
Jeanette said...
I so want to read this book! I really enjoy Bill Bryson. This book has been on my TBR list for months but it keeps getting pushed back. Hate it when that happens! :-)
5/16/2008 9:14 PM
gautami tripathy said...
Great!I have wanted to read this for long. Just never got around it. Your review might change that. I love Bryson!
5/17/2008 5:49 AM
Framed said...
I really did enjoy his humor but not for long stretches at a time.
5/17/2008 8:12 AM
raidergirl3 said...
I just started this and it is hilarious! I'm reading it for the exact same challenges as you. I hope the humor holds up for the next 200 pages, and bad words don't bother me. I found myself giggling last night while I was reading it.
5/17/2008 9:43 AM
Framed said...
Raidergirl, there are definitely some laugh-out-loud moments. I think I will keep the book to read a chapter when I need a pick-me-up. I'll just have to skip the swearing.
5/17/2008 10:47 PM
MizB said...
Hey, Framed -- thanks for your comment on my new "Raved-About Reads Challenge" blog. ;o)As for my comments on "The Book Thief", I already tried to read it this year, and -- while I found it to be REALLY interesting, and a good book -- I found it to be very "slow", and it was taking me MONTHS to get through it! I got to only page 200 (out of 500+ pages), and that alone took me about 3 months! So, I put it aside.But, it's on my list for that challenge because I *would* like to try to finish it. I think it's more of a "summer read" for me. ;o)
5/20/2008 8:46 AM
SuziQoregon said...
Hmm - I also have it on my NF5 Challenge list, but I'm already swapping out books for that challenge because I've found others after I posted my original list. I currently have this out from the library but haven't started it yet. I'll see how it goes but if I don't love it I don't have to read it for the challenge.