1950s come alive
Sue Blechl
Saturday, November 18, 2006
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, by Bill Bryson, Broadway Books, 2006, $25, 270 pages.
When you think of the 1950’s, what do you remember? Lik-m-Aid candy, saving green stamps, the polio epidemic, Mickey Mouse Club and Sky King, Slinkys, TV dinners and bomb shelters?
Author Bryson and I were both born in 1951 — a very good year! — and we have fond memories of a world quite different from today’s. It was a special time, with many advances in communication, new levels of disposable income, and a sense of innocence that would not last much into the next decade.
The bestselling author of “A Walk in the Woods” has created a memoir that’s more — it’s a commentary on the culture and politics of growing up in a Midwest city, in his case Des Moines, with national perspectives. Chapters on school, the pursuit of fun, early work experiences and such are both extremely personal and yet filled with details on the universal patterns of 1950s life. Bryson expertly brings together his humorous anecdotes of family and friends and the bigger picture of American trends.
As one of the funniest and best writers of our time, Bill Bryson captures the time brilliantly. He shares laugh-out-loud episodes of young entertainment and naughtiness. Interspersed are wonderful segments on history, social changes, and the development of cold war, the space race, the civil rights movement, and television. While Bryson’s family might not be strictly representative of the average (his parents were both writers for the Des Moines Register newspaper), the small city atmosphere and the universal experiences make for a story that resonates with adults of today.
As in his other books, the blend of Bryson’s own experiences and the research into the bigger picture of his setting, whether the Appalachian Trail (“A Walk in the Woods”), Australia (“In a Sunburned Country”) or Great Britain (“Notes from a Small Island”) makes for most satisfying reading and learning. I devour each of Bryson’s books with relish.
I heartily recommend this book for adult readers of all ages. You will reminisce and compare your memories with Bryson’s. You’ll get new insights into our society, and you’ll smile as the nostalgia for a time long past mingles with an appreciation of the present and the exciting portents of the future.
- “On the Shelf” is written by staff and volunteers of the Emporia Public Library.