New Releases by Bill Bryson

Die Welt verstehen ohne einen Fuß vor die Tür zu setzen Was bleibt nach der »Geschichte von fast allem« eigentlich noch zu schreiben? Die Geschichte von fast allem anderen, natürlich. Bill Bryson hat sich daher in seinen vier Wänden umgesehen und sich gefragt: Warum leben wir eigentlich, wie wir leben? Warum nutzen wir ausgerechnet Salz und Pfeffer, und weshalb hat unsere Gabel vier Zinken? Aber es bleibt nicht bei Geschichten von Bett, Sofa und Küchenherd. Die Geschichte des Heims ist auch immer eine der großen Entdeckungen und Abenteuer. Ohne die Weltausstellung in London hätte man vermutlich das Wasserklosett nicht so schnell zu schätzen gelernt. Und ohne die großen Entdecker müssten wir wohl ohne Kaffee, Tee oder Kakao auskommen. Bill Bryson zeigt uns unser Heim, wie wir es noch nie gesehen haben. Und wir verstehen ein wenig mehr, warum es so ist, wie es ist.

Vi går gennem hele livet i en og samme krop, og alligevel ved de fleste af os stort set intet om, hvordan vores krop fungerer, og hvad der sker inden i os. Dette gør den formidable videnskabsformidler Bill Bryson, forfatter til bl.a. bestselleren En kort historie om næsten alt, noget ved. I Kroppen – en guide for indehavere tager han os med på en dybt fascinerende rejse fra top til tå og anskueliggør det vidunder, vores legeme er. Bogen er rigt illustreret og sprængfuld af viden om de mest forunderlige ting ved vores fysik, og den er, som forfatterens tidligere bøger, skrevet så ligetil og underholdende, at alle kan og får lyst til, at være med.

''Jaw-dropping'' -The Times ''It is a feat of narrative skill to bake so many facts in to an entertaining and nutritious book. Daily Telegraph ''Classic, wry, gleeful Bryson ... an entertaining and absolutely fact-rammed book'' Sunday Times Now enhanced in this new edition by hundreds of stunning photographs and illustrations, Bryson''s book about the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself, is an instant classic. A Sunday Times and international bestseller, it is jam-packed with extraordinary facts, remarkable characters and astonishing stories. ''What I learned is that we are infinitely more complex and wondrous and often more mysterious, than I had ever suspected. There really is no story more amazing than the story of us.'' Bill Bryson

Knjiga Kratka zgodovina skoraj vsega nas popelje iz prvobitnega niča do današnjega časa, prav do tega trenutka. Avtor Bill Bryson o tej knjigi pravi, da »govori o življenju, vesolju in sploh vsem, od Velikega poka do izvora Homo sapiensa. To je knjiga o tem, kako se je zgodilo, zlasti pa o tem, kako smo prišli od tam, ko ni bilo ničesar, do tod, da se je to nekaj spremenilo v nas, in o vsem, kar se je zgodilo medtem, vmes in od takrat.« Kar sledi tej zamisli, je povzetek najzanimivejših trenutkov iz sveta znanosti, od kozmologije, astronomije, paleontologije, geologije, kemije, fizike... Bryson s posebnim zanosom omenja nekatera najnovejša odkritja in zamisli, ki so prišla na plano šele pred kratkim; avtor jih servira še tople, sveže in v omaki svojega značilnega humorja. Prav zaradi tega ga morda jemljejo nekoliko preveč lahkotno in neresno; vseeno pa je pisec s pronicljivim vpogledom in objektivno držo. V novi luči nam kaže osupljiva dejstva, ki bi jih sicer utegnili jemati preveč samoumevno in suhoparno vsakdanje.

In this selection from The Body, his compulsively readable and bestselling owner’s manual to the human body, Bill Bryson introduces us to the mysterious, and often devastating, world of disease. Written with extraordinary insight and filled with remarkable facts, When Things Go Wrong deepens our understanding of the maladies that afflict us--what they are and how they work. A Vintage Short.

Mistä meidät ihmiset on oikeasti tehty? Menestyskirjailija Bill Brysonin huikea tutkimusmatka ihmiskehon syövereihin. Suureen suosioon yltäneessä teoksessaan Lyhyt historia lähes kaikesta Bill Bryson kuvasi tieteen saavutuksia tavalla, jota aivan jokaisen oli helppo ymmärtää. Nyt Bryson kohdistaa katseensa ihmiskehoon. Mistä me koostumme, mikä saa jalkamme nousemaan, sydämemme pumppaamaan verta ja aivomme ymmärtämään niin iloa kuin surua? Entä millä keinoin ihmiskeho suojaa ja parantaa itseään? Uskomattomien faktojen ja hauskojen esimerkkien avulla Bryson selvittää lukijalle tätä oman elämämme suurinta mysteeriä. Bill Brysonin tunnetuin teos on Lyhyt historia lähes kaikesta (WSOY, 2005). Luonnontieteiden saavutuksia selkeästi ja viihdyttävästi kuvaava teos oli kansainvälinen arvostelu- ja myyntimenestys. Brysonilta on suomennettu kirjat Muistiinmerkintöjä pieneltä saarelta (2000) ja Sisään – lyhyt historia lähes kaikesta kotona (2011).

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A must-read owner’s manual for every body. Take a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body in this “delightful, anecdote-propelled read” (The Boston Globe) from the author of A Short History of Nearly Everything. With a new Afterword. “You will marvel at the brilliance and vast weirdness of your design." —The Washington Post Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body—how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Brysonesque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, “We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted.” The Body will cure that indifference with generous doses of wondrous, compulsively readable facts and information. As addictive as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best.

''Funny, wise, learned and compulsive'' - GQ Bill Bryson turns away from travelling the highways and byways of middle America, so hilariously depicted in his bestselling The Lost Continent, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid and Notes from a Big Country, for a fast, exhilarating ride along the Route 66 of American language and popular culture. In Made in America, Bryson tells the story of how American arose out of the English language, and along the way, de-mythologizes his native land - explaining how a dusty desert hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn''t won, why Americans say ''lootenant'' and ''Toosday'', how they were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up - as well as exposing the true origins of the words G-string, blockbuster, poker and snafu. ''A tremendously sassy work, full of zip, pizzazz and all those other great American qualities'' Will Self, Independent on Sunday

Ayant découvert que ce qui s''était passé dans le monde depuis deux siècles s''était retrouvé sous forme d''objets et de rituels quotidiens dans notre intérieur, le plus drôle des écrivains voyageurs américains fait le tour de sa maison pour nous raconter cette grande aventure du génie humain - de l''invention de la tapette à souris à la conception de la tour Eiffel, de la saga des acariens à celle des milliardaires. Une histoire de l''envers du décor.

«Spiritoso senza esibizionismo, informato senza prosopopea, e soprattutto conciso... si lascia ascoltare volentieri.» La Stampa «Bryson riesce a cogliere il lato umoristico di ogni cosa, diventando spesso irresistibile.» Il Messaggero «Bill Bryson nel suo Una città o l''altra sa lanciare frecciate all''indirizzo dei cugini europei facendoli morire dal ridere.» Sette Una delle piccole meraviglie del mio viaggio in Europa fu scoprire che il mondo poteva essere tanto vario da originare modi diversi di fare in pratica le stesse identiche cose, tipo mangiare e bere e acquistare biglietti per il cinema. Mi affascinava come gli europei potessero essere tanto uguali tra loro – a tal punto da risultare al contempo universalmente intellettuali e cerebrali, guidare auto minuscole e vivere in piccole case di città antiche, amare il calcio... – pur rimanendo così eternamente e sorprendentemente diversi. Una città o l’altra è il diario di viaggio di Bill Bryson, curiosissimo e acuto turista che, tra corriere che non arrivano mai e treni superaffollati di varia umanità, in balia di autisti dall’istinto omicida e di albergatori stravaganti, attraversa da Nord a Sud l’Europa partendo da Hammerfest, la città più settentrionale del mondo, per arrivare fino a Istanbul, alle porte dell’Oriente. In mezzo, per fissare ognuna delle tappe successive, sul taccuino del viaggiatore finiscono inedite istantanee di alcune tra le più suggestive città europee, scorci di monumenti, ritratti di personaggi irripetibili, insieme a contrattempi esilaranti, inevitabili incidenti di percorso, osservazioni acute, disavventure gastronomiche, flashback dei viaggi precedenti... «Bryson è sicuramente un buon compagno di viaggio e un buon osservatore, con uno sguardo divertito per tutto ciò che appare eccentrico.» New York Times Book Review «Bryson è prima di tutto e principalmente un narratore, uno di quelli estremamente divertenti e originali.» Free Press «Il più divertente - e forse stravagante - travel writer del Mondo.» Booklist

«Astuto e divertente.» New York Times «Meglio non leggerlo in pubblico: rischio altissimo di scoppiare in sonore risate.» The Times «Bryson è sicuramente un buon compagno di viaggio e un buon osservatore, con uno sguardo divertito per tutto ciò che appare eccentrico.» Mordecai Richler, autore di La versione di Barney Dopo aver vissuto per quasi vent’anni in Gran Bretagna, Bill Bryson sente che è tempo di fare le valigie e tornare negli Stati Uniti, il suo paese natale. Ma prima di lasciare l’amatissima casa nel nord dello Yorkshire, decide di dare un’ultima occhiata all’isoletta verdeggiante e gentile che per tanto tempo è stata la sua seconda patria. In sette settimane, zaino in spalla e fida cartina topografica in mano, risale da Dover a John O’Groats, in treno, in autobus e spesso (faticosamente) a piedi, riscoprendo i vizi privati, le pubbliche virtù e la sorprendente varietà naturalistica e architettonica di un paese intimo e accogliente, ricco di storia, gloria e bizzarrie. Ogni cosa, grande o piccola, buona o cattiva, cattura lo sguardo, il cuore e la mente di questo viaggiatore d’eccezione: il tempo, i paesaggi, i nomi, gli accenti, i politici, i tassisti, i giornali della sera e il palinsesto della BBC, le brutture di Oxford e le bellezze di Glasgow, la decadenza del porto di Liv¬erpool e le stranezze della cartina della metropolitana di Londra... Notizie da un’isoletta è il racconto di questo viaggio di commiato, una corposa e inedita istantanea della Gran Bretagna, che Bryson compone, come sempre, con irresistibile humour, insaziabile curiosità e rara sensibilità.

«Bryson non ha eguali nella sua capacità di mettere in ginocchio una cultura in un modo così divertente e affettuoso che chi viene ridicolizzato ride troppo per poter offendersi.» The Wall Street Journal «Lo spassoso pellegrinaggio di Bill Bryson attraverso la sua infanzia negli anni Cinquanta nel cuore dell''America è un tesoro nazionale. È pieno di intuizioni, arguzia e malvagie fantasie adolescenziali.» Tom Brokaw Cosa significa crescere nell’America degli anni Cinquanta? Molte cose sorprendenti, se a raccontarle è Bill Bryson, il brillante autore di Breve storia di (quasi) tutto, che ha il dono di saper trasformare un’infanzia felicemente normale in un percorso di formazione irto di ostacoli tragici e spassosi, nello Iowa rurale che ancora non conosce le grandi catene di centri commerciali e che ancora conserva una sua intatta, serena individualità. Popolato di luoghi e figure indimenticabili, l’ambiente familiare della tranquilla Des Moines in cui è cresciuto l’autore, persa nelle grandi pianure del Midwest, non è solo il paradigma di un’America felice, innocente e poco consapevole. È l’osservatorio privilegiato per raccontare l’involontario umorismo di una nazione che la Seconda guerra mondiale ha lasciato più ricca e più energica, ma che vive nell’ossessione dei comunisti e della bomba H, e che sembra crogiolarsi nell’ingenua convinzione che il futuro a portata di mano sarà strabiliante e colorato come in uno dei film di fantascienza di cui il giovane Bryson è appassionato spettatore. McCarthy e i fumetti, le fiere di paese e Disneyland, i primi cibi precotti e le esplosioni nucleari appena fuori Las Vegas: un catalogo di eventi e ricordi che ricostruisce con un tocco di nostalgia la stagione in cui il mondo coltivava ancora dei sogni.

What does history really consist of? Centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - sleeping, eating, having sex, endeavouring to get comfortable. And where did all these normal activities take place? At home. This was the thought that inspired Bill Bryson to start a journey around the rooms of his own house, an 1851 Norfolk rectory, to consider how the ordinary things in life came to be. And what he discovered are surprising connections to anything from the Crystal Palace to the Eiffel Tower, from scurvy to body-snatching, from bedbugs to the Industrial Revolution, and just about everything else that has ever happened, resulting in one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live, enhanced in this new edition by hundreds of stunning photographs and illustrations.

A Chicago Tribune Noteworthy Book A GoodReads Reader''s Choice In One Summer Bill Bryson, one of our greatest and most beloved nonfiction writers, transports readers on a journey back to one amazing season in American life. The summer of 1927 began with one of the signature events of the twentieth century: on May 21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first man to cross the Atlantic by plane nonstop, and when he landed in Le Bourget airfield near Paris, he ignited an explosion of worldwide rapture and instantly became the most famous person on the planet. Meanwhile, the titanically talented Babe Ruth was beginning his assault on the home run record, which would culminate on September 30 with his sixtieth blast, one of the most resonant and durable records in sports history. In between those dates a Queens housewife named Ruth Snyder and her corset-salesman lover garroted her husband, leading to a murder trial that became a huge tabloid sensation. Alvin “Shipwreck” Kelly sat atop a flagpole in Newark, New Jersey, for twelve days—a new record. The American South was clobbered by unprecedented rain and by flooding of the Mississippi basin, a great human disaster, the relief efforts for which were guided by the uncannily able and insufferably pompous Herbert Hoover. Calvin Coolidge interrupted an already leisurely presidency for an even more relaxing three-month vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The gangster Al Capone tightened his grip on the illegal booze business through a gaudy and murderous reign of terror and municipal corruption. The first true “talking picture,” Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer, was filmed and forever changed the motion picture industry. The four most powerful central bankers on earth met in secret session on a Long Island estate and made a fateful decision that virtually guaranteed a future crash and depression. All this and much, much more transpired in that epochal summer of 1927, and Bill Bryson captures its outsized personalities, exciting events, and occasional just plain weirdness with his trademark vividness, eye for telling detail, and delicious humor. In that year America stepped out onto the world stage as the main event, and One Summer transforms it all into narrative nonfiction of the highest order.

Després d''haver recorregut desenes de països pels continents europeu, africà i americà, el controvertit autor de Breu història de gairebé tot emprèn un fascinants viatge... per l''interior de casa seva. Un dia, Bill Bryson va pensar que dediquem molt més temps a estudiar les batalles i les guerres de la història que a reflexionar sobre allò del que està feta la pròpia història: segles de gent dedicada a les tasques del dia a dia, menjant, dormint i tractant de viure amb més comoditats, i que la major part dels principals descobriments de la humanitat es troben en la mateixa estructura de casa nostra. D''aquesta manera, inicià un viatge per casa seva amb la ment oberta i la curiositat com a bandera, tot fent petites descobertes que expliquen qui som, d''on venim i quin ha estat el llarg recorregut que hem fet per viure com vivim. En aquesta petita història de la vida domèstica, Bill Bryson es pregunta quan i per què es va inventar la xemeneia, o bé per quin motiu a algú se li va acudir fer forquilles amb quatre puntes, i encara més: sabíeu que la llum que desprèn una nevera moderna és superior a la que podia il·luminar una casa fa tan sols dos cents anys? Bryson aplica la seva insaciable curiositat i enginy irresistible, i ofereix un dels llibres més entretinguts i esclaridors sobre la història de la nostra manera de viure. No us perdeu un sol detall del que s''explica en aquest llibre perquè no us deixarà de sorprendre tot el que desconeixem sobre el que tenim més a l''abast. Ressenya: «Si aquest llibre no us proporciona conversa per als sopars que celebreu durant els propers cinc anys, és que no hi heu posat prou atenció.» People

Now revised and updated to take in the major scientific developments of the past decade, A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson''s classic quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. Winner of the Aventis Prize for Science Books and the Descartes Science Communcation Prize, it became a huge bestseller, and remains one of the most popular science books of all time. Bill Bryson''s challenge was to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry and particle physics, and see if there wasn''t some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. On his travels through time and space, he encounters a splendid collection of astonishingly eccentric, competitive, obsessive and foolish scientists, and takes us on an eye-opening journey through time and space, revealing the world in a way most of us have never seen it before.

When an old friend asked him to write a weekly dispatch from New Hampshire for the Mail on Sunday''s Night and Day magazine, Bill Bryson firmly turned him down. So firm was he, in fact, that gathered here are nineteen months'' worth of his popular columns about the strangest of phenomena -- the American way of life.Whether discussing the dazzling efficiency of the garbage disposal unit, the mind-boggling plethora of methods by which to shop, the exoticism of having your groceries bagged for you, or the jaw-slackening direness of American TV, Bill Bryson brings his inimitable brand of bemused wit to bear on the world''s richest and craziest country.

God only knows what possessed Bill Bryson, a reluctant adventurer if ever there was one, to undertake a gruelling hike along the world''s longest continuous footpath—The Appalachian Trail. The 2,000-plus-mile trail winds through 14 states, stretching along the east coast of the United States, from Georgia to Maine. It snakes through some of the wildest and most spectacular landscapes in North America, as well as through some of its most poverty-stricken and primitive backwoods areas. With his offbeat sensibility, his eye for the absurd, and his laugh-out-loud sense of humour, Bryson recounts his confrontations with nature at its most uncompromising over his five-month journey. An instant classic, riotously funny, A Walk in the Woods will add a whole new audience to the legions of Bill Bryson fans.

Bill Bryson will es seinen gehfaulen Landsleuten zeigen: Gemeinsam mit seinem Freund Katz, der aufgrund gewaltiger Leibesfülle und einer festverwurzelten Leidenschaft für Schokoriegel nicht gerade die besten Voraussetzungen dafür mitbringt, will er den längsten Fußweg der Welt, den "Appalachian Trail", bezwingen. Eine abenteuerliche Reise quer durch zwölf Bundesstaaten der USA beginnt... Ein Reisebericht der etwas anderen Art - humorvoll, selbstironisch und mit einem scharfen Blick für die Marotten von Menschen und Bären!

Numa prosa fluente e permeada de curiosidades culturais, Em casa, do norte-americano Bill Bryson, conta a incrível história da habitação desde a Idade da Pedra até a atualidade, destacando sua influência decisiva sobre todos os aspectos da vida privada. Em casa é simultaneamente uma narrativa histórica, um tratado de sociologia, um compêndio de história da ciência e uma divertida coleção de curiosidades culturais. Viajando pelo interior de sua própria casa - uma antiga residência paroquial no nordeste da Inglaterra -, o escritor norte-americano reconstitui a evolução de cada um dos cômodos que compõem a habitação humana moderna. Do hall de entrada ao porão, da sala de jantar ao banheiro, dos quartos de dormir ao jardim, nenhum detalhe escapa à atenção do autor de Breve história de quase tudo, que vendeu mais de 50 mil exemplares no Brasil. Amparado por uma bibliografia reveladora, o livro percorre largos intervalos no tempo e no espaço para demonstrar que a configuração arquitetônica da moradia determina todos os aspectos da vida privada. Dotado de extrema sensibilidade para relacionar os menores componentes de uma casa - móveis, decorações, utensílios domésticos - às inovações tecnológicas e culturais mais decisivas da história da humanidade, o autor é capaz de revelar as marcas de milênios de evolução da moradia nas formas arquiconhecidas de objetos simples como os talheres da sala de jantar ou as torneiras do banheiro. Uma prosa fluente e permeada de observações espirituosas convida o leitor a investigar a extensa história da casa e da vida privada em seu próprio cotidiano, garantindo um passeio agradável e informativo entre diferentes épocas e culturas.

A fascinating work of what you might call domestic science: our homes, how they work, and the fascinating history of how they got that way. Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as found in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to "write a history of the world without leaving home." The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade. Bryson shows how each has shaped the evolution of private life. Whatever happens in the world, he demostrates, ends up in our house, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture.

“Bryson is as amusing as ever….As a celebration of 350 years of modern science, [Seeing Further] it is a worthy tribute.” —The Economist In Seeing Further, New York Times bestseller Bill Bryson takes readers on a guided tour through the great discoveries, feuds, and personalities of modern science. Already a major bestseller in the UK, Seeing Further tells the fascinating story of science and the Royal Society with Bill Bryson’s trademark wit and intelligence, and contributions from a host of well known scientists and science fiction writers, including Richard Dawkins, Neal Stephenson, James Gleick, and Margret Atwood. It is a delightful literary treat from the acclaimed author who previous explored the current state of scientific knowledge in his phenomenally popular book, A Short History of Nearly Everything.

One of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers takes his ultimate journey -- into the most intriguing and intractable questions that science seeks to answer. In A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson trekked the Appalachian Trail -- well, most of it. In In A Sunburned Country, he confronted some of the most lethal wildlife Australia has to offer. Now, in his biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand -- and, if possible, answer -- the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. To that end, he has attached himself to a host of the world’s most advanced (and often obsessed) archaeologists, anthropologists, and mathematicians, travelling to their offices, laboratories, and field camps. He has read (or tried to read) their books, pestered them with questions, apprenticed himself to their powerful minds. A Short History of Nearly Everything is the record of this quest, and it is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Science has never been more involving or entertaining.

This new edition of the acclaimed bestseller is lavishly illustrated to convey, in pictures as in words, Bill Bryson’s exciting, informative journey into the world of science. In A Short History of Nearly Everything, the bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods and The Body, confronts his greatest challenge yet: to understand—and, if possible, answer—the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as his territory everything from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization, Bryson seeks to understand how we got from there being nothing at all to there being us. The result is a sometimes profound, sometimes funny, and always supremely clear and entertaining adventure in the realms of human knowledge, as only Bill Bryson can render it. Now, in this handsome new edition, Bill Bryson’s words are supplemented by full-color artwork that explains in visual terms the concepts and wonder of science, at the same time giving face to the major players in the world of scientific study. Eloquently and entertainingly described, as well as richly illustrated, science has never been more involving or entertaining.

William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition arranged around scant facts. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, Bill Bryson sorts through this colorful muddle to reveal the man himself. Bryson documents the efforts of earlier scholars, from today''s most respected academics to eccentrics like Delia Bacon, an American who developed a firm but unsubstantiated conviction that her namesake, Francis Bacon, was the true author of Shakespeare''s plays. Emulating the style of his famous travelogues, Bryson records episodes in his research, including a visit to a bunkerlike room in Washington, D.C., where the world''s largest collection of First Folios is housed. Bryson celebrates Shakespeare as a writer of unimaginable talent and enormous inventiveness, a coiner of phrases ("vanish into thin air," "foregone conclusion," "one fell swoop") that even today have common currency. His Shakespeare is like no one else''s—the beneficiary of Bryson''s genial nature, his engaging skepticism, and a gift for storytelling unrivaled in our time.

Ein intelligenter, aberwitzig komischer und immer wieder überraschender Beitrag zur amerikanischen Kulturgeschichte Nachdem Bill Bryson zwanzig Jahre in England gelebt hat, ist er wieder reif für seine amerikanische Heimat. Dort angekommen, stellt er allerdings fest, dass sich vieles verändert hat. Oder ist ihm der ganz normale Wahnsinn früher einfach nicht aufgefallen? Der erfolgreichste Sachbuchautor unserer Zeit schreibt ein hinreissend komisches Porträt seines Heimatlandes und seiner Mitbürger. Bill Bryson ist der Tom Sharpe des modernen Reiseberichts. Bill Bryson wurde 1951 in Des Moines, Iowa, geboren. 1977 zog er nach Grossbritannien und schrieb dort mehrere Jahre u. a. für die ''Times'' und den ''Independent''. Mit seinem Englandbuch ''Reif für die Insel'' gelang Bryson der Durchbruch, und heute ist er in England der erfolgreichste Sachbuchautor der Gegenwart. Seine Bücher werden in viele Sprachen übersetzt, stürmen stets die internationalen Bestsellerlisten. 1996 kehrte Bill Bryson mit seiner Familie in die USA zurück, wo es ihn jedoch nicht lange hielt. Er war erneut ''Reif für die Insel'', wo er heute wieder lebt.