Bill Bryson (1) (1951–)
Author of A Short History of Nearly Everything
For other authors named Bill Bryson, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa on December 8, 1951. In 1973, he went backpacking in England, where he eventually decided to settle. He wrote for the English newspapers The Times and The Independent, as well as supplementing his income by writing travel articles. He moved back to the show more United States in 1995. His first travel book, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, was published in 1989. His other books include I'm a Stranger Here Myself, In a Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe, Made in America, The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson's African Diary, A Short History of Nearly Everything, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, Walk About, and Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery, the Genius of the Royal Society. A Walk in the Woods was adapted into a movie starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. Bryson's titles, The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain, Notes from a Small Island and Neither Here Nor There made the New York Times bestseller list in 2016. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Bill Bryson in 2018
Series
Works by Bill Bryson
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1998) 17,317 copies, 483 reviews
I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away (1998) 7,463 copies, 119 reviews
At Home: A Short History of Private Life (2010) — Narrator, some editions — 6,666 copies, 270 reviews
Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States (1994) 4,391 copies, 46 reviews
Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society (2010) — Editor — 1,056 copies, 17 reviews
Notes from a Small Island / Neither Here Nor There / I'm a Stranger Here Myself (2006) 51 copies, 1 review
The Bill Bryson BBC Radio Collection: Divided by a Common Language, Journeys in English and More (2023) 1 copy
Bill Bryson Series Collection: Troublesome Words, Mother Tongue: the Story of the English Language, Icons of England,… (2011) 1 copy
Eine kurze Geschichte des menschlichen Körpers - Eine atemberaubende Reise von der Nasenspitze bis zum großen Zeh:… (2023) 1 copy
Associated Works
Not So Funny When It Happened: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure (2000) — Contributor — 235 copies, 6 reviews
There's No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled: The Best of Travel Humor and Misadventure (1998) — Contributor — 213 copies, 5 reviews
The Road Less Travelled: Foreword by Bill Bryson (Eyewitness Travel Guides) by Compact (2011) (2009) — Foreword, some editions — 130 copies, 1 review
Wild: Stories of Survival from the World's Most Dangerous Places (Adrenaline) (1999) — Contributor — 62 copies, 1 review
Licensed to Sell: The History and Heritage of the Public House (2004) — Foreword, some editions — 20 copies, 2 reviews
RDSELP v103 A Walk in the Woods / Cloud Nine (Reader's Digest Select Editions) (1999) — Author — 4 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Bryson, Bill
- Legal name
- Bryson, William McGuire
- Birthdate
- 1951-12-08
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA (birth)
UK (naturalized) - Birthplace
- Des Moines, Iowa, USA
- Places of residence
- Virginia Water, Surrey, England, UK
North Yorkshire, England, UK
Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Wymondham, Norfolk, England, UK - Education
- Drake University (BA|1977)
- Occupations
- journalist
chancellor (University of Durham)
travel writer
non-fiction author - Relationships
- Bryson, Michael G. (brother)
Bryson, Bill, Sr. (father) - Organizations
- Campaign to Protect Rural England
- Awards and honors
- Officer, Order of the British Empire (2006)
British Book Award (1997)
Honorary Fellow, Royal Society (2013)
Aventis Prize (2004)
Descartes Prize (2005)
President's Award of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2005) (show all 10)
Bradford Washburn Award (2007)
James Joyce Award (2007)
Kenneth B. Myer Award (2012)
Golden Eagle Award (2011) - Agent
- Jed Mattes
- Short biography
- Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. A backpacking expedition in 1973 brought him to England where he met his wife and decided to settle. He wrote for the English newspapers The Times and The Independent for many years, writing travel articles to supplement his income. He lived with his family in North Yorkshire before moving back to the States in 1995, to Hanover, New Hampshire, with his wife and four children. In 2003 he and his family moved back to England, where they currently reside.
Members
Reviews
The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an… by Bill Bryson
Too similar to previous books; curmudgeon complaining.
Bill Bryson gehört zu meinen Lieblingsautoren, deshalb war ich auch sehr froh, als dieses kleine Buch mir in die Hände gefallen ist. Natürlich erreicht es nicht die Qualität seiner sonstigen Bücher, sondern erzählt nur ein paar Anekdoten rund um seine Kenia-Reise. Inhaltlich ist es natürlich längst überholt, denn auch an Kenia sind die letzten 20 Jahre nicht spurlos vorbeigegangen, aber trotzdem hat es mich einen Abend lang gut unterhalten.
This book is about one-third a great travelogue, featuring great descriptions of landscapes, sites, landmarks, and history. Unfortunately, the other two-thirds are an old guy griping about everything and everyone he encounters, usually from a lack of preparation or effort on his own part. Andy Rooney could barely hold a candle to the blathering pseudo-insights of what Bryson thinks is wrong with the world. Truly "Old Man Yells at Cloud" levels of cantankerousness. It is a shame, because the travelogue aspect is informative and even charming at times, only to be marred by Bryson's purposeful attempts to malign himself to the reader as a grade A curmudgeon. About 1 in 10 anecdotes are amusing and worthwhile, while the rest just highlight the dolts Bryson could easily avoid, the food he is shoving in his face but does not like, or how drunk he got. It is a shame because I do enjoy Bryson's writing on a technical level, but this book is a warning to steer clear from his personal experiences and stick to the objective subject matter books that he has authored.… (more)
From all the negative reviews, I expected to cringe at the stereotyping. Since leaving Texas decades ago, I've often been teased for my drawl, which is mostly gone now unless I decide to lay it on thick, just for fun. (I finally dropped "fixin' to" but will never lose "y'all"! What's that you said? Youse guys? Ha, ha, ha, ha.)
Instead of cringing, I laughed through this whole 2.5-hour audiobook. Not quite as good as his "Thunderbolt Kid," but still worth a read or a listen.
Instead of cringing, I laughed through this whole 2.5-hour audiobook. Not quite as good as his "Thunderbolt Kid," but still worth a read or a listen.
Lists
Five star books (1)
Best Biographies (1)
Big History (1)
2000s decade (1)
How Humans Work (1)
Books I've read (9)
Africa (1)
Books About Boys (1)
United Kingdom (1)
Comfort Reads (1)
Tour of Iowa (1)
Pageturners (1)
Books to Read (1)
My List (1)
Books in English (1)
Allie's Wishlist (2)
Sense of place (2)
Etymology (3)
Unread books (3)
Favourite Books (4)
Funny Books (4)
BBC Big Read (1)
Carole's List (8)
2015 UpROOTed (1)
Folio Society (2)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 60
- Also by
- 20
- Members
- 127,965
- Popularity
- #56
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 3,118
- ISBNs
- 1,089
- Languages
- 30
- Favorited
- 660
