Born in 1951 in Des Moines, IA this follows Bryson's childhood growing up in the midwest. Bill's recollections ran the gamut of those of any kid of either sex from that era: family vacations, the first televisions, favorite TV shows, the nature of contemporary comic books, toys, soda pop and candies, parents' occupations and eccentricities, Mom's cooking, the specter of The Bomb and Godless Communism, drop and cover drills, Saturday afternoons at the movie matinees, the National Pastime (major league baseball), the State Fair, Dick and Jane books, visits to Grandpa's farm, paper routes, strange relatives, and Best Friends. A few years ago I read his book "Notes from a Small Island" and was surprised at his witt and humor that he is able to portray. I listened to both books on CD and find myself enjoying his stories spoken aloud as it gives it a new element.
I grew up in Omaha, only about an hour and half away from Des Mo
ines but 15 years later and still much of the innocense I read in this memoir was what I remember of my childhood. I had a paper route and ate TV dinners and my mother was a working mom who was always running late and forgetting things. It doesn't make me nostalgic but rather smile with fondness about a time I had not thought a lot about since I've moved to my adult life.