# Bill Bryson
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 22, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444 "2013-09-22T14:35:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/1 "2013-09-22T14:35:03Z")
Am making an OP here, re a present-day prolific and much-read author. Had thoughts of making it a poll – but a fair few threads on TSD seem to be “stillborn”; I’d feel a complete fool setting up a poll, and getting zero response – for some reason, feel less of one just trying to start an ordinary thread which might be unresponded-to.
So – would be interested in people’s thoughts about Bill Bryson. I’m definitely ambivalent about his works. For me, on the credit side, he can “on a good day” be side-splittingly funny, and very perceptive. On the debit side, he seems to have a monstrously inflated ego and a very great interest in what happens to him and what goes though his head, which he is apparently convinced that his readers will fully share – which does not sit well with me: conceited jerks tend to piss me off. Plus, I perceive in him a tendency at times, to play fast and loose with facts, in the interests of getting a cheap laugh. And, he tends to be prey to sudden, occasional, violent and vitriolic hates – subjects of which, seem a matter of utter capriciousness.
Re the above pros-and-cons – I find some of his books better than others. Would be pleased to hear folks’ views.
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### Author:  [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/2 "2013-09-22T14:41:55Z")
I’m kind of in the same boat. I liked some of what he did, but a lot of it seemed to be more about him then what he saw and did. I read two or three of his books before deciding he just wasn’t more me. He had a couple of funny quips, but over all he just isn’t for me.
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### Author:  [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/3 "2013-09-22T14:44:54Z")
I enjoy his writing. However, he is not to be trusted on recitations of history. He does, as you say, play fast and loose with facts.
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### Author:  [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/4 "2013-09-22T14:55:47Z")
He has amused me in the past but I cannot remember when I last read anything by him.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/5 "2013-09-22T15:29:27Z")
_A Walk in the Woods_ is a funny, funny book.
He is not a reliable source for non-first-person history, however.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/6 "2013-09-22T15:32:48Z")
I like his books a lot. And I’ve rarely found him making any particularly bad historical/scientific mistakes, just trivial nitpicks (or simple artistic license), which are usually only because he’s repeating what other sources might say.
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### Author:  [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/7 "2013-09-22T15:36:08Z")
I like his travelogues more than his (non) history books.
I consider _Notes From A Small Island_ his weakest travelogue. It was initially intended for a UK-based audience, and maybe it worked for them, but it lost a lot in translation, IMO, for those of us across the pond. I don’t mean UK-isms or anything like that. His writing wasn’t as engaging. It was more like a “I have a contract – here’s a book” type of thing.
At his best he’s wonderfully engaging with a disarming, quirky view.
At his worst he pontificates.
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### Author:  [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/8 "2013-09-22T15:46:36Z")
I enjoy his books but feel that some of his recent travelogues suffer from being on a deadline to end his journey. Either it feels very rushed or he runs out of steam.
Also this:
> [@](#):
>
> a tendency at times, to play fast and loose with facts, in the interests of getting a cheap laugh.
should have Paul Theroux’s name on it. You can substitute “laugh” with “bit of drama”.
But I’m happy to read any Bill Bryson book.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/9 "2013-09-22T17:28:27Z")
> [@Spoke](#):
>
> I enjoy his writing. However, he is not to be trusted on recitations of history. He does, as you say, play fast and loose with facts.
Couldn’t have said it better.
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### Author:  [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/10 "2013-09-22T18:19:13Z")
> [@Spoke](#):
>
> I enjoy his writing. However, he is not to be trusted on recitations of history. He does, as you say, play fast and loose with facts.
Same here.
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### Author:  [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/11 "2013-09-22T20:54:19Z")
It’s been years since I read anything by him, but I remember enjoying his travel books well enough. They’re funny, light, opinionated, and usually have some interesting info on regional history or culture.
He hasn’t written a travel book in over a decade, though. I remember reading that he thought he’d run out of places that were appropriate for his light, flippant style, but I don’t think it’s true. I’d enjoy reading a book by him on Canada, say, or Ireland, parts of South America, a specific region of the US, etc. I wish he’d get back to more of that kind of stuff.
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### Author:  [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/12 "2013-09-22T20:59:57Z")
I don’t know why he never did one on Ireland. It seems like an obvious fit.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/13 "2013-09-22T21:41:20Z")
> [@twickster](#):
>
> _A Walk in the Woods_ is a funny, funny book.
>
> He is not a reliable source for non-first-person history, however.
It had its moments, but I found it to be somewhat whiny and sarcastic. I really enjoyed his _Brief History_ (even with the inaccuracies), and his book _At Home_ was also very entertaining. That said, sometimes he doesn’t really seem to try very hard.
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### Author:  [@andrew\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrew_1)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/14 "2013-09-22T22:34:07Z")
I second _ **A Walk in the Woods** _. A fun read, and the audiobook is good to listen through once every now and then.
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### Author:  [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/15 "2013-09-22T23:28:02Z")
I like all of his books, searched out and read every single one. Loved “A Walk In The Woods”, and I just put “At Home” on my iPad. It’s ideal, I can dip in and out on a whim, and there are hundreds of pages. (I would love to be able to talk with him about his travels. I love the fact that he said he wanted to travel from a very early age.)
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/16 "2013-09-23T00:07:19Z")
He’s an enjoyable read, but don’t take anything “factual” he says as gospel. I disagree that the problem with Bryon is trivial nitpicks. His books on the English language were chock full of urban legends/folk etymologies and things of that nature. I just enjoy the prose and the story, and don’t dare repeat anything he reports as “fact” without checking up on it myself. I mean, you can wave it off as “artistic license” I suppose, but when you’re trying to write a non-fiction book. Come on.
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### Author:  [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/17 "2013-09-23T01:20:21Z")
The funny parts of A Walk in the Woods are funny, but I felt very much like I was sold a bill of goods. Yes, no where in the beginning of the book or the cover does it say that he actually completes a thru-hike of the AT, but that’s the obvious implication – and the fact that he delays this reveal for more than a hundred pages points to his knowledge and shame of lying by omission.
Plus is half of his descriptions of his companion are true (and there’s a real possibility he’s a 100% fabrication) they were some the shittiest people to ever hike the AT: littering everywhere and generally obnoxious and judgmental and dismissive.
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/18 "2013-09-23T01:28:26Z")
He writes an entertaining travelogue, and he inspired me to travel to Shark Bay to see the stromatolites there. Now, I have to say that Stromatolites aren’t all that exciting, but the journey to see them _was_ a grand adventure…so, thanks, Mr. Bryson!
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/19 "2013-09-23T02:50:09Z")
A phrase in one of his travel essays–“That must’ve been one sick bird”–is still enough to crack me up helplessly on occasion.
Other than that, I find him mildly diverting and untrustworthy.
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### Author:  [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bill-bryson/669444/20 "2013-09-23T03:13:42Z")
> [@kiz](#):
>
> I consider _Notes From A Small Island_ his weakest travelogue. It was initially intended for a UK-based audience, and maybe it worked for them, but it lost a lot in translation, IMO, for those of us across the pond. I don’t mean UK-isms or anything like that. His writing wasn’t as engaging. It was more like a “I have a contract – here’s a book” type of thing.
To me it seemed like the very genuine “last look around” of an ex-pat going home, and doesn’t at all read like a “contractual obligation” book.
As you say it may be that I like it so much because it’s an outsider’s view of the UK, from the point of view of someone who has spent a lot of time in the UK (which could be a description of me).
To me, BB’s book is a pitch perfect and hilarious encapsulation of what is so frustrating and at the same time so endearing about the UK.
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