Books › The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
448 pages
A laugh-out-loud, sunlit stroll through the absurdities and wonders of a mid-century American childhood.
What it feels like
Reading this memoir feels like sitting on a porch on a lazy summer afternoon, listening to a master storyteller spin yarns about a bygone era. The pace is comfortably leisurely, inviting you to linger in the sun-drenched, neon-lit world of 1950s America. The narration is infused with a wry, affectionate humor that frequently provokes out-loud laughter, balancing sharp observational wit with a deep, wistful nostalgia. It captures the universal absurdity of being a kid, convinced of your own secret superpowers, while gently poking fun at the bizarre, atomic-age optimism of the adult world. The prose is effortlessly conversational and rich with hyperbole. It will thoroughly delight anyone who loves warm, self-deprecating humor and the bittersweet ache of looking back at the innocence of youth.
- Mood
- sun-drenched
- cozy
- wistful
- cheerful
- Tone
- wry
- nostalgic
- affectionate
- self-deprecating
- humorous
- Pace
- leisurely
- Themes
- mid-century Americana · innocence of childhood · passage of time · absurdity of growing up · atomic-age optimism
- The writing
- Conversational, sharply observant, and effortlessly witty, filled with comedic hyperbole and warm affection.
- The arc
- Moves from buoyant, laugh-out-loud childhood innocence to a gentle, wistful realization of how much the world has changed.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love laugh-out-loud observational humor and have a soft spot for mid-century nostalgia or coming-of-age memoirs.
Content notes
- outdated cultural attitudes
About the book
Bill Bryson on his most personal journey yet: into his own childhood in America's Mid-West.Some say that the first hint that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came when his mother sent him to school in lime-green Capri pants. Others think it all started with his discovery, at the age of six, of a woollen jersey of rare fineness. Across the moth-holed chest was a golden thunderbolt. It may have looked like an old college football sweater, but young Bryson knew better. It was obviously the Sacred Jersey of Zap, and proved that he had been placed with this innocuous family in the middle of America to fly, become invisible, shoot guns out of people's hands from a distance, and wear his underpants over his jeans in the manner of Superman.Bill Bryson's first travel book opened with the immortal line, 'I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.' In his deeply funny new memoir, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, and the curious world of 1950s America. It was a happy time, when almost everything was good for you, including DDT, cigarettes and nuclear fallout. This is a book about growing up in a specific time and place. But in Bryson's hands, it becomes everyone's story, one that will speak volumes – especially to anyone who has ever been young.
Description from Open Library.
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