The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

Author: Bill Bryson

This book mainly focuses on the first 10 years of the author's life and what it was like to be a kid in the 1950s. It's by Bill Bryson, so of course it's funny with a slight predilection for lists of facts. Unfortunately, I feel compelled to compare every Bryson book with A Walk in the Woods, which is the funniest book ever. This book is not quite as funny, but that's like saying someone is less tall than Shaquille O'Neal.

Bryson waxes nostalgic for his early childhood and carries the peculiar Iowan reverence for their own, boring-to-anyone-else, state. He tries to convince the reader that the 50s were an age of innocence and happiness, the likes of which we have not since experienced. I'm not buying it, but it is interesting to be reminded of how our outlook has changed over time regarding space travel, warfare, and civil rights.