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AUGUST 24, 2011
A Good Read
 At Home by Bill BrysonThis book was written by American travel writer and college professor, Bill Bryson, who has lived in England more years of his life than he has lived in the U.S. As he wrote this book, he and his family made their home in an old rectory in Sussex, built in the 1660s. Bryson uses the old house as map for this absorbing and sometimes amusing look at the history and evolution of private life. He travels from room to room, talking about the kinds of things that either had or might have typically taken place in each room of the house, and then finds every possible opportunity to go off on a fascinating tangent, wherein the reader learns many bits of information, some not even remotely related to the house, but nevertheless interesting. When he’s in the bedroom, for example, he talks about bedroom furniture and bedding. Did you know, for example, that In Shakespeare’s time beds were probably the most expensive items in a household? And for that reason, the bed was often kept downstairs where visitor might be impressed by it. There is discussion of all the things that take place in bed - birth, sex, sleep, illness, and even death - which leads to a discussion of disease, medicinal cures that were worse than the diseases, dying, mourning, funerals, graveyards, and cremation. You might say that Bill Bryson travels through the house observing it and reporting on it like a good travel writer should - with scrutiny, curiosity, bemusement, occasional horror, surprise and pleasure.
Category: Staff Reads |
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