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  • The Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

  • By: Bill Bryson
  • Narrated by: Bill Bryson
  • Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (221 ratings)

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The Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Bill Bryson
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Publisher's Summary

Bill Bryson's hilarious memoir of growing up in middle America in the Fifties, complete, unabridged, and read by the author.

Born in 1951 in the middle of the United States, Des Moines, Iowa, Bill Bryson is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24 carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generation, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around the house wearing a jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel round his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing evildoers (in his head) as The Thunderbolt Kid.

Using his old fantasy life as a springboard, Bill Bryson recreates the life of his family in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality. In a period that saw the inexorable rise of television, the opening of Disneyland, the testing of the atomic bomb, and the explosion of choice in everything from food to cars, Bill Bryson's days followed in reassuringly cosy succession, enlivened by modest triumphs and disasters.

Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, The Thunderbolt Kid is full of Bill Bryson's inimitable, pitch-perfect observations and this unabridged recording contains every single amusing anecdote and amazing fact. Nothing is left out, so you can enjoy the whole book in its entirety, read by Bill Bryson himself.

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Critic Reviews

"The way he tells it, to be a child in 1950s Middle America was very heaven... His own happy scrapes and triumphs (mostly scrapes) contain a good few laugh-out-loud moments, but with trademark modesty he conjures an entire era, ' the ancient lost world of the mid-20th-century.'" ( The Sunday Times, Audio book of the week)

"Considerable added value as it is read unabridged by its author, Bill Bryson." (The Times)

What listeners say about The Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

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Eloquent with laugh out loud humour.

I loved every minute of Bill Bryson's own story of growing up in the 50s in rural America. A wonderful insight into the decade when post war technology changed the world

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An exceptional writer telling his own story

Self-effacing, affectionate and joyful. Oh, and of course, hilarious. Bryson at his best. One of the few writers that can make me stop what I’m doing to wipe away tears of laughter.

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Never disappoints

Bill Bryson has become one of my all time favourite authors. My daughter introduced me to his books and I’ve enjoyed every one. Great travelling companion.

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Very good!

Very good book, the past is now in the future. The way the book is written is classic Bryson style, that is, good

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loved it -;Bryson at his very best

loved it , my favourite title from Bill Bryson
funny , very very funny .

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A book I will listen to again

Highly entertaining and relatable, even to someone raised in a later generation. The recounting of Bill Bryson’s own childhood memories also lead to recall many of my own, which warmed my heart and made me smile.

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  • Sue
  • 07-12-2022

A fun read.

Recommend it .. to bring a smile to the dial . Young people in 1950s were perhaps not quite as angelic as we like to believe.

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Great original read

Fantastic imagination and honesty. A great insight into the early life of Bill and 50s America.

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Life through Bill’s eyes

Laughed and laughed, then laughed some more, laughed until I cried, then laughed again and again and again.
The funniest book of Bill Bryson’s that I have read to date.
Thank you for surviving to relate the tales of a well misspent youth Bill Bryson, much appreciated :-)

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Magical

Bill’s great skill is implanting an image in your mind and lighting it with glowing nostalgia. Touching on America’s major faults and abuses, he nonetheless makes Des Moines in the 50s sound like a delightful safe haven from the frightening reality which forces many kids to grow up too quickly. It’s a beautiful story. And his voice, of course, is a joy.

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