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The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir
 
 
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The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir (Hardcover)

by Bill Bryson (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Broadway Books; 1 edition (17 Oct 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 076791936X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0767919364
  • Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.7 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (98 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,147,510 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

New York Times

'Outlandishly and improbably entertaining...inevitably [I] would
be reduced to body-racking, tear-inducing, de-couching laughter.'
--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.


Literary Review

'Always witty and sometimes hilarious…wonderfully funny and
touching.' --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
See all Product Description

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Customer Reviews

98 Reviews
5 star:
 (61)
4 star:
 (22)
3 star:
 (9)
2 star:
 (5)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (98 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant from start to finish, 29 Sep 2006
By Danny C (Vail, CO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (Hardcover)
I have read all of Bryson's books and found this one as funny and interesting as all those that came before. In this book he has managed to capture in words those things that all of us felt at sometime during our childhood. Add into the mix a small dose of American history and you have a book that is both funny, insightful, and somewhat educational. I recommed this to all--it is vintage Bryson. Also, his old friend Katz makes an appearance. What can be better than that?!
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27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A FIVE STAR SALUTE TO THE MASTER, 30 Aug 2006
By Agent to the Starz (Stiffkey, Norfolk) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (Hardcover)
Bill Bryson, the man who, had he been alive at the time, would have teased an open-throated guffaw out of Mona Lisa, is back on the Hopeless Laughter Trail with this memoir of growing up in Iowa in the '50s and'60s. Indeed, it may be his funniest book yet, but, as always with Bryson, it's more than just a chuckle fest: it's a warm, wise, poignant evocation of a nation long since vanished up its own fundament. The past is a foreign country; they did things differently there, and on a more humane scale.
A book to be treasured, to be read and then re-read, by a writer without equal.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Bryson at his best, 12 Nov 2006
By A. Betts "Alister Betts" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
This review is from: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (Hardcover)
I'm one of those lucky people that read something really funny on a train, or any public place, and supress my emption. I'm also one of those lucky people (of which there must be millions) that rush to buy Bill Bryson's new book on release day. This book is one of the few books that have ever made me laugh, and I really mean laugh, out loud. It's written with humour and warmth and portrays a world that has long disappeared, which is clearly a sad thing. A fantastic book - shame it wasn't twice as long I enjoyed it so much!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun - Bill Bryson at his best!
It's difficult to add much to all the other positive reviews. The book is a wonderful read, very funny, exquisitely written and a complete joy from beginning to end. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mz Lizzie

4.0 out of 5 stars Ignore the whimsy and enjoy
If you are familiar with Bryson's written style, you'll enjoy this book immensely. Observations of his childhood are written with real feeling and always in good humour. Read more
Published 2 months ago by DaveW

2.0 out of 5 stars Unremarkable, but sweet
This is the story of every happy childhood. A child of the fifties might be nostalgic and associate with it, but hardly anyone else will relate to the book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dona Rendell

2.0 out of 5 stars Read by the man himself - oh dear!
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: (Complete and Unabridged) (BBC Audio)

Don't get me wrong. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Archbold Jake

4.0 out of 5 stars Do not let the title put you off!
A detour from geographical travel is taken with Bill Bryson's unusually titled book. This is still a travel story - but one that majors on time rather than distance . . . Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. Morton

5.0 out of 5 stars The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
This is a typical, hilarious Bryson book, made the more enjoyable if you were alive in the 50's and 60's so can relate to lots of his "growing pains".
Published 5 months ago by Evadne Fisher

4.0 out of 5 stars It made me laugh. . . .
. . . yes it was funny. Being more or less the same age I empathised with what was happening in those times. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. K. A. Treacy

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny book
This is the first Bryson book I have read and I really enjoyed it. The book follows Bryson's childhood, into teen years and was very funny. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Ms. K. Marsh

4.0 out of 5 stars Very...well, Bryson
Bill Bryson's first book "The Lost Continent" starts with the line "I came from Des Moines, Iowa. Somebody had to. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Teemacs

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gem of a Book!
"The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" is a gem of a book in which Bill Bryson takes us back to when he was a young boy in 1950s America. Read more
Published 13 months ago by THE Music Enthusiast

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