Book Reviews: Book Review of The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson -- Blue Rectangle

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The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

Bill Bryson

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“This book was assigned in a graduate level narrating non-fiction class. So we were looking at Bill Bryson's style of narration in the book and how he chose to tell his story. The book is a memoir. It's a - it covers his childhood growing up in Des Moines, Iowa. And it's - in addition to being about his life, it's also about the city of Des Moines and how the city of Des Moines changed over time. It's almost an homage to the lost 1950's nuclear town or city. You know, a downtown that had everything. And so in addition to looking at his own childhood, in addition to looking at the way in which he interacted with the people and the city itself, he's also looking at the way the city used to be. Bryson is very funny and he uses a lot of hyperbole in his writing. He tells stories in kind of an exaggerated way. And I found that writing style to be very engaging and very entertaining. He also does this interesting thing where he - as a kid he envisioned himself as a superhero. And so he uses various stories throughout the book to show the development of himself as a superhero. And it really gives you a window into his imaginative life so you've got what's going on in his external world, but then he also gives you a lot of what's happening in his internal world. I think it would an interesting book for anybody who grew up in the Midwest in the 1950s. It would probably bring back a lot of memories and probably feel very familiar. I also would say it's a great book for someone who wants to study narrative craft. I would give this book four stars, perhaps four and a half.”