12/13

The Book: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

ISBN: 978-0-7679-1937-1

Where: Home

When: 8-9p

Music:

Company: The Family

Pages: 56-111

The Lead In: There are some who might complain about the rose-colored-glasses approach of Bryson to Iowa, his family, and the 50's. He certainly seems to gloss the negatives and enhance the positives; however, I think he does this with a purpose. The 50's were an era (as he points out in the book) that was thrilled with everything and confident that this era was the best of all possible eras. I think Bryson is channelling that spirit and view on life. It's a thematic approach, a mood setter, and well-done.

The 411 on the 55: I enjoyed today's reading. Especially his description of his trip to Disney Land. I too had a similar experience with my dad and a trip to one of Disney's theme parks. It amazed me. No history, no geology, no mathematics, just fun for kids. It was amazing. I'm sure he was bored as hell.

His family story, covered today, was interesting as well. His parents both being writers for the newspaper. Their mutual passion for words and writing, the dynamic between them, his father's field (sports) contrasted with his mother's (home decor). Good relationships are built in the margins between pages, no matter how diverse the subjects, the pages are still bound together. It's pretty, in a 50's sort of way.

Line of the Day: "I killed morons. I still do." pg 63

Fact on the Fiction: Awesome story: "My greatest moment as a human being was one day I got to sit in the Cubs clubhouse where Ernie Banks was autographing baseballs and I got to hand them to him. He had a box of baseballs he was signing and he obviously didn't need my help but he let me hand him the balls." ESPN