Author Focus: Bill Bryson

by Louise Hilton.

Bill Bryson is an American writer best known for his travel memoirs such as the best-selling A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, a hilarious recounting of his ill-fated attempt to hike the famous trail. His other travel books include Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe with each chapter devoted to a different country, Notes from a Small Island about his many years spent living in England, and I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America after 20 Years Away.

Travel writing not your thing? Check out his books on everything from the curiosities of the English language (Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way and Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States) to history (the excellent At Home: A Short History of Private Life) to science (A Short History of Nearly Everything). A final highlight from his bibliography is The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, his memoir of growing up in 1950s Iowa.

The common denominator in Bryson’s books is of course his wit. His writing is often laugh-out-loud funny and irreverent but always engaging and accessible. To learn more about the author and his works, visit his official website at http://www.billbryson.co.uk/.

Notes from a Small islandA Walk in the WoodsAt Home

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