The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Paperback: 270 pages
Publisher: Broadway (September 25, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0767919378

From Publishers Weekly

For most of his adult life, Bryson has made his home in the U.K, yet he actually entered the world in 1951 as part of America's postwar baby boom and spent his formative years in Des Moines, Iowa. Bryson wistfully recounts a childhood of innocence and optimism, a magical point in time when a distinct sense of regional and community identity briefly—but blissfully—coexisted with fledgling technology and modern convenience. Narrating, Bryson skillfully wields his amorphous accent—somehow neither fully British nor Midwestern—to project a genial and entertaining tour guide of lost Americana. In portraying the boyish exploits of his "Thunderbolt Kid" superhero alter ego, he convincingly evokes both the unadulterated joys and everyday battles of childhood. As an added bonus, the final CD features an interview with Bryson in which he reflects on the process of writing his autobiography and discussing the broader social and cultural insights that he gleaned from the experience.

I just finished reading The Thunderbolt Kid. (short version of the title, which is a great title!)

I thought I would connect with Bryson more in this book than any other but it didn’t quite happen.  Did he mention old TV shows I knew.. oh yes.  Did he talk about how kids were outside all the time when we were young ..absolutely!  But what happened was he also covered a lot of history for back in that time.  Normally, that too interests me, however he’d even write about something happening when he was no more than a month old and of course he’d not “remember” that.. so it didn’t quite fit. I’m not sure why.   Maybe had he written that “the year before I was born” as a preamble .. I don’t know I just felt it wasn’t what I expected.  

There was much in there that I did expect, but “to me”, he wasn’t as funny as the other books I’ve read by him.  Far and away the best of the 3 I’ve read is still A Walk in The Woods. 

I think I expected more connection to his childhood, but instead he had more history than childhood.

But if you were to ask me “did you sit and stare at the channel number” waiting for a program? ummm yes.

It is hard to believe anyone would bother to look as something such as this..but we knew.. we absolutely knew, if we did the time would go faster and the show we waited for would come on sooner!

So, were there some memories to connect with.. absolutely.  I just wish there were more.

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November Wrap up… which I don’t normally do since my reading has taken a dive this year. I am lucky I will barely beat one book a week for the whole year lol.

During the month of November I actually didn’t do too bad.. I read more books than normal!

Oscar Wilde & the Candlelite Murders..Gyles Brandreth

A Walk in the Woods..Bill Bryson

The Weed that Strings the Hangmans Bag..Alan Bradley

The Lost Continent...Bill Bryson

Oscar Wilde & the Dead Mans Smile..Gyles Brandreth

The Thunderbolt Kid...Bill Bryson

Do you see a pattern here?! heh.. 3 Bill Bryson and two Gyles Brandreth! The only one to break the cycle was Alan Bradley!!

I’m happy to say I enjoyed them all.  I think I would put A Walk in the Woods as number one and then the two Oscar Wilde books tie for second…but as I said…it was a good month of reading.