The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
Encyclopedia
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is a 2006
memoir
by best-selling travel
writer
Bill Bryson
. The book
delves into Bryson's past and telling of his youth growing up in Des Moines, Iowa
, during the 1950s and early 1960s. It also reveals the backstory between himself and Stephen Katz, who appeared in A Walk in the Woods and "Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe
." Bryson also describes and comments on American life in the 1950s. The title of the book comes from an imaginary alter-ego Bryson invented for himself in his childhood, who has the ability to "vaporise people."
The book was released on September 1, 2006, in the United Kingdom
, where it was published by Doubleday. In the United States
and Canada
, the book was launched on October 17, 2006, and was published by Broadway Books
and Doubleday Canada respectively.
of The Observer
wrote "What Bryson has achieved with this book is final confirmation that he is the Frank Capra of American letters", and later added "And it really is a wonderful life to be immersed in the American Midwest in the Fifties with Bill as your tour guide [...] Bryson has to pad his tale with other stuff. And it's the other stuff at which he excels."
Ian Sansom of The Guardian
stated "He has a natural-seeming style in which he doesn't so much tell jokes as let his sentences stretch out and relax into feet-up, contented good humour." and "Bryson's descriptions of 50s Des Moines [...] makes you wish that you could emigrate, become a child, get a flat-top haircut and some long-laced baseball boots, and sneak in and take up residence unnoticed with little Billy Bryson in his parents' household." The only complaint Tom Fort of The Daily Telegraph
made about the autobiography was that, "His handicap is that he is entirely free of the malice, the appetite for smut, scandal and unpleasantness – above all, the narcissism – absolutely essential to the form."
The book has a 73/100 rating at the website Metacritic
, earning it the rank of "Generally favorable reviews".
2006 in literature
The year 2006 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Literature:*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun*Chris Adrian - The Children's Hospital *Martin Amis - House of Meetings...
memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
by best-selling travel
Travel
Travel is the movement of people or objects between relatively distant geographical locations. 'Travel' can also include relatively short stays between successive movements.-Etymology:...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson
William McGuire "Bill" Bryson, OBE, is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on science. Born an American, he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before moving back to the US in 1995...
. The book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
delves into Bryson's past and telling of his youth growing up in Des Moines, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, during the 1950s and early 1960s. It also reveals the backstory between himself and Stephen Katz, who appeared in A Walk in the Woods and "Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe is a 1991 humorous travelogue by American writer Bill Bryson. It documents the author's tour of Europe in 1990, with many flash-backs to two summer tours he made in 1972 and 1973 in his college days...
." Bryson also describes and comments on American life in the 1950s. The title of the book comes from an imaginary alter-ego Bryson invented for himself in his childhood, who has the ability to "vaporise people."
The book was released on September 1, 2006, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, where it was published by Doubleday. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the book was launched on October 17, 2006, and was published by Broadway Books
Broadway Books
Broadway Books, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a Division of Random House, Inc., released its first list in Fall, 1996. Broadway Books has since published many New York Times bestsellers in hardcover and paperback, including Elizabeth Edwards’ memoir Resilience, Bill O’Reilly’s memoir A...
and Doubleday Canada respectively.
Plot
Bryson spent his childhood growing up in Des Moines, Iowa. He was born on December 8, 1951, which was also the tenth anniversary to the USA’s entry into World War II. He was a part of the baby-boom generation that was born right after World War II ended. He describes his early years of life and his parents, William and Mary Bryson. His father was a well-known sports writer for the Des Moines Register, the leading newspaper in Des Moines. His mother was also a writer, however she wrote for magazines like Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping, and House Beautiful. He recounts many things that were invented during his childhood that fascinated him, which include frozen dinners, atomic toilets, and television. His middle-class, all-American lifestyle is shown constantly throughout the book and the influence of his depression-era raised parents rubs off on him. He also remembers his adventures as “the thunderbolt kid,” an alter ego he made up for himself when he felt powerless. He was able to vaporize people with his heat vision and thought that he came from another planet. He tells amusing stories of his misadventures as Billy Bryson also, including his first days in school when he figured out that when the entire class was running drills to protect themselves from a bomb, he would simply read comic books instead. However, when the principal and a police officer came in one day to supervise, he got in loads of trouble. Trouble was something fairly common for the "the thunderbolt kid", seeing as throughout his childhood his teachers were not too amused by his abilities. In fact, Bryson recounts how he really wasn't too interested in getting up before noon, thus not even going to school very often. Despite his unique behavior, Bryson tells his story through the eyes of a child, filled with hilarious observations about basically everything: from Lumpy Kowalski's curious nickname to all the joy that was to be had in the marvelous department stores. Even though he focuses mostly on his childhood, he tells of many of the events that were happening at the time, including the development of the atomic bomb, and the beginnings of the civil rights movement. Bryson is constantly ironically praising the time in which he grew up, citing all of the fun that children could have in those days while still noting that it probably resulted in buttock cancer for many of Bishop's atomic toilet afficionados. He tells of his first days in Jr. High and High School, and during both he began smoking, drinking, and stealing, although he didn’t get caught for any of it. He met Stephen Katz in Jr. High, when they were both in the school’s A/V club. Katz would accompany Bryson on many of his travel experiences. At the end of the book, Bryson tells the reader that “Life moves on,” and that he wishes that the world could be more similar to life in the 50’s and 60’s. The last lines of the book are, “What a wonderful world that would be. What a wonderful world it was. We won’t see its like again, I’m afraid.” After reading this book, any reader would should wholeheartedly.Reception
The book received mostly positive reviews from critics. Carole CadwalladrCarole Cadwalladr
Carole Cadwalladr is a British author. Her first novel, The Family Tree, was shortlisted for the 2006 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, the Author's Club First Novel Award, the Waverton Good Read Award, and the Wales Book of the Year. It was also a Daily Mail Book Club pick and was dramatised as a...
of The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
wrote "What Bryson has achieved with this book is final confirmation that he is the Frank Capra of American letters", and later added "And it really is a wonderful life to be immersed in the American Midwest in the Fifties with Bill as your tour guide [...] Bryson has to pad his tale with other stuff. And it's the other stuff at which he excels."
Ian Sansom of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
stated "He has a natural-seeming style in which he doesn't so much tell jokes as let his sentences stretch out and relax into feet-up, contented good humour." and "Bryson's descriptions of 50s Des Moines [...] makes you wish that you could emigrate, become a child, get a flat-top haircut and some long-laced baseball boots, and sneak in and take up residence unnoticed with little Billy Bryson in his parents' household." The only complaint Tom Fort of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
made about the autobiography was that, "His handicap is that he is entirely free of the malice, the appetite for smut, scandal and unpleasantness – above all, the narcissism – absolutely essential to the form."
The book has a 73/100 rating at the website Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, earning it the rank of "Generally favorable reviews".
Editions
- ISBN 076791936X (US hardcover, 2006)
- ISBN 0385608268 (UK hardcover, 2006)
- ISBN 0385661614 (CDN hardcover, 2006)
- ISBN 0767919378 (US paperback, 2007)
- ISBN 9780552772549 (UK paperback, 2007)
- ISBN 0385661622 (CDN paperback, 2007)
- ISBN 0739315234 (US audiobook, 2006)
- ISBN 9780552153652 (UK audiobook, 2006)