A season for primary colours Dec 28, 2007
Since its most famous son, the author Bill Bryson, grew up there in the 1950s, it has become a hub for the ethanol industry, pork farming and the insurance industry and it has good universities. On Thursday about 7 per cent of Iowans will rug up and head to school gyms, town halls and even homes to "caucus" for their preferred candidate. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Arenas leads the league in humorous blog entries Dec 27, 2007
Shirley is a superb writer, with a style that evokes both Dave Barry and Bill Bryson, but his inability to hold down a job makes him more well-traveled than both. "My writing 'career' has wreaked havoc on my basketball 'career,' " Shirley recently wrote. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Sports)
San Francisco Chronicle Best-Sellers Dec. 23 / Dec 24, 2007
SHAKESPEARE, Bill Bryson (Eminent Lives; 208 pages; $19. 95): A brief biography of the Bard describing his life and the world in which he lived; by the author of "A Short History of Nearly Everything.". (San Francisco Chronicle)
Column: Check It Out Dec 20, 2007
One book is the hilarious Appalachian Trail adventure, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Our complementary title is the excellent guide to understanding the history and future of New England forests, Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England by Tom Wessels. (Hamilton Wenham Chronicle, MA)
The pick of the literary crop Dec 15, 2007
I was impressed by the way Bill Bryson managed to tease a few scraps of hard information into an entertaining and highly readable 200-page biography: Shakespeare (Atlas Books). I loved the fresh and uninhibited honesty of Imran Ahmad's Unimagined, the autobiography of a young Pakistani-born Muslim growing up in England (Aurum). (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Crystal's 2008 'How To' World Cruise Dec 15, 2007
-- Know more about everything -- Aptly led by the author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson. -- Better Understand Politics -- Guided by political consultant, columnist, author and Fox News commentator, Dick Morris. (PR Newswire)
Vote for the Bridgewater Dec 2, 2007
It is also supported by author Bill Bryson, designer Wayne Hemingway and actor Alistair McGowan. Each of the bids will be highlighted in programmes on ITV1 in the week beginning December 3. (Northwich Guardian)
From pigeons to chief executives Nov 12, 2007
"Whitwell Elwin, editor of the respected British journal the Quarterly Review, was sent an advance copy of a new book by the naturalist Charles Darwin. Elwin read the book with interest and agreed that it had merit, but feared that the subject matter was too narrow to attract a wide audience. He urged Darwin to write a book about pigeons instead. 'Everyone is interested in pigeons,' he observed helpfully. Elwin's sage advice was ignored, and 'On the Origin of Species' was published." - From "A... (Boston Globe)
England's medieval cathedrals: The magnificent seven Nov 10, 2007
The American writer Bill Bryson calls Durham "the best cathedral on planet Earth," and it was voted the nation's best-loved building in a 2001 poll. What not to miss: Parts of the coffin and pectoral cross of St. Cuthbert, the 6th century bishop of Lindisfarne on Holy Island off northeast England. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Fantasy dominates list of favourite re-reads Nov 9, 2007
Notes From a Small Island - Bill Bryson. 12. (Guardian Unlimited -- UK)
Roundup: Non-fiction, in brief Nov 1, 2007
Bill Bryson's Shakespeare proves that brevity is the soul of wit. Of course, the great playwright left little behind (other than his work) to help the biographer, as Bryson notes in these 199 pages. (USA Today -- Life)
Bestseller List Oct 31, 2007
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid Bill Bryson, Broadway, $14. 95, 9780767919371 Growing up in the '50s. (Scranton Times, PA)
* Have map, have leaflets, will travel (alone) Oct 21, 2007
Bill Bryson usually travels alone, but this year he joined the judges at the Wanderlust Guide awards and found out what he has been missing. By Bill Bryson 88967 Sunday, Oct 21, 2007, Page 18. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
* New York Times bestsellers Oct 21, 2007
Taipei Times - archives. Enter your search terms. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
World's top tourist traps Oct 19, 2007
Bill Bryson recently told The Guardian of London that "this the world we live in. There are a finite number of attractions and increasing numbers of people." True, but there are still steps that can be taken. In general, there's a good chance you'll have an equally special and far more pleasant time at a randomly selected alternate stop just a mile down the road from the lines, Internet cafes, tchotchke stands and row after row of idling buses. (MSNBC -- Travel)
Bestsellers list Oct 10, 2007
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid - Debut Bill Bryson, Broadway, $14. 95, 9780767919371 Growing up in the '50s. (Scranton Times, PA)
Read on... Oct 9, 2007
Book Im reading: "Made in America" by Bill Bryson. Total number of books I own: A few hundred. (Variety)
Talk of the town Sep 30, 2007
When he visited in 1998, Bill Bryson wrote about our city's "settled and gracious air", which reminded him of Europe. Paul Theroux didn't think it looked much like Europe at all, but managed to set aside his customary disgust for new places to describe a "settled and social" city which "looked especially prosperous in bad weather, its buildings darkened by rain and its streets shining with the reflections of busy crowds". (Sydney Morning Herald)
Unnatural attractions: Just say no to faux Sep 26, 2007
I cant begin to account for it, but it appears that in this country these days we really only want something when it isnt really real, wrote humorist Bill Bryson in Im a Stranger Here Myself. . (MSNBC -- Terrorism)
The U.S. win over England, as it happened Sep 23, 2007
Solo reads it like a Bill Bryson book and punches clear. 44th: White gets a bit of revenge on Wambach, sweeping out her legs along with the ball. (USA Today -- Sports)
Independent Solutions Sep 15, 2007
Bill Bryson explains why the Western Weald deserves to be protected. O J Simpson was named as a suspect last night in a break-in at a Las Vegas casino hotel, putting a bizarre twist on a career that has included being accused and, notoriously, acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend. (The Independent, UK)
Author voices national park fears Sep 12, 2007
Bill Bryson is president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England ... The claim has been voiced by author Bill Bryson, president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), who made a fact-finding visit to the area. (BBC News -- Science)
Wish you weren't here: Travelers' pithy insults, putdowns, critiques Aug 27, 2007
Article:Wish you weren't here: Travelers' pithy insults, putdow:/c/a/2007/08/24/TRE3RNAV0. DTL Article:Wish you weren't here: Travelers' pithy insults, putdow:/c/a/2007/08/24/TRE3RNAV0. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Wish You Weren't Here Aug 26, 2007
To all Safari Browser users. Our implementation of comments on SFGate causes the back button to break on all versions of Safari. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Travel)
Sink into summer with a good book - Local readers give their personal recommendations Jul 31, 2007
Nygaard also enjoyed the book A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson, which is a memoir of Bryson s middle-aged adventures or misadventures while hiking the Appalachian Trail with his longtime friend and college buddy, Stephen Katz ... Bill Bryson is really funny, she said, and it s the kind of book where you laugh out loud. (Missoulian, MT)
Harry's history Jul 24, 2007
While I was answering questions on the radio (all from adults, except one) after an article I wrote about Harry Potter in 2005, a calm 11-year-old said he preferred Bill Bryson. An angry librarian rang to dismiss him, saying that Harry Potter encouraged children who hadn't read before to do so. (Courier Mail)
Protecting a small island Jul 10, 2007
The best-selling American travel and science writer Bill Bryson, takes over today as president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England ... Bill Bryson, best-selling writer and now president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. (Guardian Unlimited -- Travel)
Make England a national park, says Bryson Jul 9, 2007
All of England should be made into a national park, the author Bill Bryson believes. The author warned efforts to safeguard the countryside needed to be redoubled. (Telegraph.co.uk)
Book Reviews Jul 8, 2007
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, a memoir by Bill Bryson, humorist and son of a sportswriter for the Des Moines Register Interesting baseball lore and plenty of belly laughs. - Charles E. Holland, Ripley. (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
games + puzzles Jun 24, 2007
Answer the clues, one letter per blank, and then transfer those letters to like-numbered squares in the diagram to spell a quotation from author Bill Bryson ... "Boston's freeway system . . . was clearly designed by a person who had spent his childhood crashing toy trains." - from Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. (Boston Globe)
The great escape Jun 23, 2007
To read part two click. Saturday June 23, 2007. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
New Lonely Planet Wales Guide Jun 21, 2007
Travel writers like Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux didn't ignore tacky seaside resorts when they wrote about Britain. The only town that merits a mention in the Lonely Planet Guide to Wales is Llandudno, so almost 40 miles of the north Wales coast from Llandudno to the English border is dismissed in a sentence. (Suite101.com)
Notes from a small university May 29, 2007
He concedes that, in the money stakes, the UK's third-oldest university - whose chancellor is the writer Bill Bryson - is unlikely to compete with the Princetons of this world. "But I put the argument the other way round: haven't we done brilliantly considering we don't have such endowments?" he says. (Guardian Unlimited)
The dove who flies across the Atlantic May 28, 2007
Hobbies Golf (member of Royal Dornoch); snowmobiling with Bill Bryson. Also on Guardian Unlimited. (The Observer)
No Room For Rubbage May 25, 2007
Such is the scale of the problem that the great American author Bill Bryson, who now lives here, has launched a national campaign to eradicate litter from the countryside ... And Bill Bryson wants a network of undercover teams to watch out for what we call fly tippers -- those who can't be bothered with the new arrangements and dump lorry loads of trash in the countryside. (CBS News)
One Man's Guide to Cheap Flights May 17, 2007
Chesshyre doesn't play it relentlessly for laughs, like a Bill Bryson or Tony Hawks. He has a genuinely curious mind and while there are jokes galore, usually at his own expense, he also wants to know who these people are, what their lives are like and what are their ambitions. (Suite101.com)
Frankenstein to Framed: the full list May 16, 2007
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (Black Swan). Sakkara by Michael Carroll (HarperCollins). (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Happy book wins science prize May 16, 2007
Past winners have included Bill Bryson, Stephen Hawking and Chris McManus. The judges were Colin Pillinger; Trevor Baylis, inventor of the wind-up radio; Louisa Bolch, commissioning editor for science on Channel 4; Emily Holmes, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow at the University of Oxford; and Christine McGourty, science correspondent for BBC News. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Bryson's plea for countryside May 6, 2007
By BILL BRYSON May 04, 2007 HE S famous for being the brilliant author of travel books such as his best-seller about Britain, Notes From A Small Island. Now American Bill Bryson has landed a key role in protecting our countryside. (The Sun)
How clean is my valley? May 5, 2007
Interview: Bill Bryson ... Bill Bryson's litter campaign has made him the champion of rural England ... The CPRE's newest president, the author Bill Bryson, is being led round the corner in search of a suitably sylvan photographic backdrop. (Guardian Unlimited)
Bill Bryson to head rural English agency May 5, 2007
LONDON (Reuters) - British-based American writer and humorist Bill Bryson, who has made an art form out of poking gentle fun at his hosts, is to be head of the quintessentially English Campaign to Protect Rural England ... LONDON (Reuters) - British-based American writer and humorist Bill Bryson, who has made an art form out of poking gentle fun at his hosts, is to be head of the quintessentially English Campaign to Protect Rural England. (Reuters.uk)
Too hot to handle May 4, 2007
" Once you admit to what's happened and talk about it, everyone will feel much more relaxed and they'll be laughing with you rather than at you. As a way of developing social skills, one therapy he has used is to get people to talk in a group about their own worst embarrassing moments, helping them to face down their social anxieties. Or else there's the white lie. But this can add to the confusion, as Bill Bryson found after he stumbled into his parents' bedroom at just the wrong moment. "To my... (BBC News -- UK)
Messy nationYour images of rubbish in our streets and countryside May 4, 2007
Author Bill Bryson will head a campaign to reduce litter and we asked for photos of how the issue affects you. Greg Meekings sent this image of a litter-pick in Woldingham, Surrey. (BBC News -- UK)
Bryson wants a tidier island May 3, 2007
Now Bill Bryson, author of Notes on a Small Island, is aiming to turn his "No 1 passion" - a concern about our growing litter problem - into a national campaign in his new role as head of the UK's leading rural conservation charity. Bryson, 55, who was brought up in Des Moines, Iowa, but who is now settled with his English wife and family in Norfolk, will be named today as the new president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. (Guardian Unlimited -- Arts)
US author Bill Bryson to lead English countryside charity May 3, 2007
U.S. author Bill Bryson to lead English countryside charity - International Herald Tribune. U.S. author Bill Bryson to lead English countryside charity ... LONDON: British-based American humorist Bill Bryson's love for this small island is no secret, but now he is dedicating himself to protecting its charms. (International Herald Tribune)
Rubbish islandBill Bryson, the US author devoted to a litter-free UK May 3, 2007
Profile: Bill Bryson. In his professional and personal life, American author Bill Bryson has frequently confounded expectations and bridged seemingly impossible divides. (BBC News -- UK)
Tortoise tale on science shortlist May 2, 2007
Six books remain in contention for the 10,000 prize, which has previously been claimed by Bill Bryson, Stephen Hawking and the eminent string theorist Brian Greene. This year, the casualties to fall by the wayside include Matt Ridley's biography of Francis Crick, a history of the universe from Patrick Moore and his rock acquaintance Brian May, and the Sun's Giant Leaps, which depicts groundbreaking scientific achievements as front-page splashes. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Cutting edgeThe best popular science books of the past year Apr 27, 2007
Other past winners have included Bill Bryson, Stephen Hawking and Chris McManus. The judges are Colin Pillinger; Trevor Baylis, inventor of the wind-up radio; Louisa Bolch, commissioning editor for science on Channel 4; Emily Holmes, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow at the University of Oxford; and Christine McGourty, science correspondent for BBC News. (BBC News -- UK)
The Amazing Race Apr 26, 2007
Sure, when I first heard the term "Allstars" I was hoping travel writer and humorist Bill Bryson might be along for the ride, or maybe Germaine Greer, who has already proven herself game for the reality-TV challenge with the UK version of Big Brother. Disappointment proved only temporary, however, with the announcement of gay couple Team Guido, beauty queens Dustin and Kandice, and of course Rob and Amber of Survivor fame, who were just pipped on their Race debut - unfairly, it could be argued -... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
- Tim Radford Apr 26, 2007
In its time, the Royal Society prize has gone to Stephen Hawking, who must be the world's best known living scientist, and to Bill Bryson, one of literature's most entertaining practitioners. The prize has gone to books that explore the cosmic machinery of creation and to books that tackle detailed questions, such as why so many things in the world are left-handed, or how memory works. (Guardian Unlimited)
Peel Your Apple To Get To The Core Of The iPod Apr 3, 2007
It made it possible for to read his fascinating autobiography to me while we walked along the Elkhorn River, and for Bill Bryson to regale me, also in his own voice, with A Short History of Nearly Everything, while birds, clouds, trees and grass kept the natural world he spoke of in full focus. The iPod got me energized in the morning with songs like Im Gonna Be by the Proclaimers, and River Deep Mountain High by Celine Dion. (Nebraska Statepaper)
Area basks in a moment of memories Mar 28, 2007
The documentary was of the childhood years of author Bill Bryson ... Bill Bryson, the author of a dozen books that spin a rich dry humor into serious contemplations of the world we move through, is counted as one of Winfield's own, sort of - by some, anyway ... Both of his parents were writers for the Des Moines Register; his father was the revered Bill Bryson, the sports writer. (Washington Journal, IA)
Charlie Connelly's Elvis Search Mar 19, 2007
While Charlie Connelly is not quite as funny a writer as Bill Bryson (though who is. and his jokes can be a bit corny in places, it's his warmth and curiosity that carry the book. (Suite101.com)
Books you can't live without: the top 100 Mar 1, 2007
74 Notes From A Small Island Bill Bryson. 75 Ulysses James Joyce. (Guardian Unlimited -- Books)
Give Bryson's memoir to kids: It explains a lot Feb 20, 2007
Bill Bryson, a humorist and a travel writer who has taken us on amusing journeys along the Appalachian Trail and across time and the cosmos, has turned his wit and his memory to growing up in the middle of the country, in the middle of the century, in the middle of a delightfully dysfunctional family. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir, is the latest from Bryson, author of A Walk in the Woods and A Short History of Nearly Everything. (Orlando Sentinel)
TV diet expert in borrowing boom Feb 10, 2007
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything 9. Dan Waddell - Who Do You Think You Are. (BBC News -- Health)
Vampires swoop into literature Jan 18, 2007
"Undoubtedly my favorite comedic writer ... Perhaps if you combine Kurt Vonnegut, Carl Hiaasen and Bill Bryson with Douglas Adams, you could imagine a Christopher Moore.". In this novel, penned in a colloquial style full of the tone and language of the young set, 19-year-old C. Thomas "Tommy" Flood has a problem: he slept with his witty, pretty girlfriend Jody. (Half Moon Bay Review, CA)
Release the bats Jan 2, 2007
Comedian Robin Williams once described cricket as "baseball on Valium", and Bill Bryson was moved to write: "After years of patient study (and with cricket there can be no other kind), I have decided that there is nothing wrong with the game that the introduction of golf carts wouldn't fix in a hurry.". Perhaps some insight can be gained from film. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Your childhood isn't dead. It isn't even past. Jan 1, 2007
"One of the great myths of life," writes Bill Bryson in "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" (Broadway, $25), "is that childhood passes quickly." Characterized by such protracted stretches as the school day, car trips, waiting for birthdays and Christmas, childhood "goes on for decades when measured in adult terms. It is adult life that is over in a twinkling." To this I would add that not only is childhood immensely long, but it never goes away in quite the same way that passages of... (Boston Globe)
