Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Bill Bryson is an author who has the ability to make any subject both enjoyable and edifying. Whether the subject is his own childhood ("The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid"), history ("One Summer"), or science ("A Short History of Nearly Everything"), he seems to be able to extract unique and humorous snippets of information about his subject and weave them into a narrative which is both pleasurable and educational. His relaxed style of writing makes the reader wish he could invite him over for a convivial evening of conversation. As a burnt-out retired physician I thought I would never again want to read anything about the human body, having spent over fifty years immersed in the topic every day. With his book Bryson has demonstrated that I did not know as much as I had thought. If I had read this book before starting medical school, the first two years of my education would have been decidedly less frightening and tedious.