Book recommendation: Bill Bryson, "One Summer, America 1927"

Bobw235

Bobw235

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
Got this from the library recently and am really enjoying it. Learning about a very discrete period of time where so much happened. If you're familiar with his style, this is similar. Light-hearted, easy to read prose that is entertaining. I never knew much about Charles Lindbergh, the 1927 Yankees, Babe Ruth, Calvin Coolidge (and others such as Harding and Hoover), the history of Sacco & Vanzetti, Al Capone, etc. Highly recommend it. More detail here.
 

Ameriscot said:
Love Bryson books. And my mother was born the summer of 1927.
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A fascinating look at the period. I had no idea about how much Lindbergh's life changed once he crossed the Atlantic. He came from a really weird family. Goes into quite a bit about the Sacco and Vanzetti case (they were executed that summer), and gives a good deal of info about Prohibition. I'm learning a lot.
 

I was introduced to the books relating to being an expat in the UK, then the one about feeling foreign when he moved back to the US. Then I was hooked on his other books.
 
My favorite scene in Sunburned is when the feral dogs are closing in on him and Oy that I shudder typing it, he falls into a huge spider web..." At Home" is a book you can read again and again. I have them all...No actually I just looked at his website. There's an African book to add to my wish list.
 
fureverywhere said:
My favorite scene in Sunburned is when the feral dogs are closing in on him and Oy that I shudder typing it, he falls into a huge spider web..." At Home" is a book you can read again and again. I have them all...No actually I just looked at his website. There's an African book to add to my wish list.
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The part in Sunburned that I remember is when he learns about the Sea Wasp, talking about just how painful that sting is. I recall it being compared to having a lit cigar held against one's skin. OUCH!
 
fureverywhere said:
Was that the one where the guy is unconscious and is still screaming?
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I don't remember that, but remember him talking about how a fisherman came in contact with part of a tentacle that had detached and still got a nasty, painful sting. Said kids were vulnerable to the venom and it could kill them. Also recall Bryson talking about all the deadly spiders and snakes in Australia. Any yet, I still want to visit there one day. :)
 
Thanks for the recommendation. I checked my local library's online collection and they have it as both an ebook and an audio book. I think I'll try the audio book while I'm exercising. I enjoy any books that include information on the Yankees. I recently read a book on Sacco and Vanzetti but it wasn't very good, so I'll be interested in that part of Bryson's book, too.
 

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