He delivers one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live.īill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote a lot more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business-eating, sleeping and merely endeavouring to get more comfortable. In “AT HOME”, Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose, and masterful storytelling that made “A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING” one of the most lauded books of the last decade.
You will not want to time travel after you read this, but you will want to go see his house. This is a fun book with a lot of details on Victorian life.
Bryson has a talent for conveying a lot of information in an entertaining, accessible way, as seen in A Walk in the Woods and A Short History of Nearly Everything. People who already study history will probably not find much new stuff in this book, but it’s a great overview of the Victorian Era and why our domestic lives today are the way they are. Romance-reading by young girls will, by this excitement of the bodily organs, tend to create their premature development, and the child becomes physically a woman months or even years before she should. It contains this quote from a Victorian author for us to cherish, They will also will no doubt be intrigued by “The Bedroom,” which discusses hygiene, pests again, comfort, sleep, sex, medicine, and death. Romance readers might be especially interested in “The Dressing Room,” which is about clothing and fashion. Topics include, but are not limited to, hygiene (“The Bathroom”), food (“The Kitchen”), work (“The Scullery and Larder”), children (“The Nursery”), and pests (“The Study”).
Bryson focuses on the year 1851, the year that the house was built, but he gives himself some latitude to talk about developments before and after that period. It’s completely fascinating and, because Bryson is so funny and personable, it’s never dry. In At Home, he tours his house room by room, tracing history through habitation. The reliably funny and intelligent Bryson was inspired to write At Home by the Victorian parsonage that he and his family live in. Whatever option you choose, the book is a delight. So you can decide whether this is a lavish gift or more of a stocking stuffer. A At Home: A Short History of Private Lifeīill Bryson’s book At Home is a great holiday gift, possibly for yourself, and it’s available as an eBook, hardback, paperback, or audio (read by the author).
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