Bill Bryson

2 messages in this thread | Started on 2006-08-04

Bill Bryson

From: wood thrush (wood_thrush@mac.com) | Date: 2006-08-04 13:58:59 UTC

> --I love Bill Bryson's voice. It's a mixture of Iowa and the
England. In a Sunburned Country
> is one of my favorites.

Yep, Bryson's voice, which has that interesting combo accent and
drips with irony and sarcasm, is one of the best reasons to get the
audio. I also like In a Sunburned Country. (It's about a trip to
Australia.)

Bryson's stuff is so good because he really does walk and hike
everywhere. So there's lots of tales of the trail.

One warning: if you get his "A Short History of Everything" on
audio, do NOT get the unabridged version. That's not read by Bryson.
It's read by Richard Matthews, who has an uppercrust British accent.
Bryson's writing just doesn't sound the same in the other guy's
voice, although you know how it should sound!

If you get the abridged version of the same book, Bryson reads it
himself. Much better, even if it is abridged. Also note that this is
not a travel and hiking book. It's straight non-fiction science
writing.

wood thrush

Re: [LbNA] Bill Bryson

From: (davyschris@aol.com) | Date: 2006-08-04 10:26:14 UTC-04:00

My uncle and I listened to A Walk in the Woods while he was driving me from
Sacramento to Santa Rosa, CA one day. We'd both already read it, and he'd
listened to it many times before, but we were laughing so hard even though we
already knew what he was going to say. I wish I could write like Bryson.

I teach an evening class for adults at the high school where I work, and I've
been assigned to science this year. There's no textbook, so I'm planning to
make some Power Points and use A Short History of Nearly Everything. Because
it's fascinating. :)

Chrissy