Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson

There are quite a few authors that I really enjoy reading. Most of the time, I like non-fiction. Any subject has the opportunity to grasp my attention and keep me enthralled cover to cover. I knew from an early age that I like biographies. It didn’t matter much who it was but most of the time it was actors and musician since they were the only people I really knew about. When I was unemployed for a bit, I spent a lot of time at the library. I still do spend time there, but for this story, it was the time I was job hunting. After I would scan the paper and internet for jobs, I would walk up and down the aisles looking for books to occupy my time. I happened upon a book that forever left an impression on me. It was A Walk In The Woods by Bill Byson.

At the time, I was wishing for a different life. As many of you know, the only thing worse than having a job is looking for a job. I wanted to escape. I wanted to be somewhere else. I found out that I could do a little escaping through the travels journals that Bill was thoughtful and talented enough to write. It took me about a week to read through it. I always tell people it’s because I have to sound out all the words. In truth, it’s because I like to take my time and really get all there is out of the written word; the humor, the seriousness, the sentence structure, the language and vocabulary. I love it all. Bryson had been writing for quite some time before I discovered him. That meant that I didn’t have to wait for him to write another book. He already had six others waiting for me. All of which the library had on their shelves. When I finally got a job, and paid off a few things to get me current, I invested in hardcover copies of all of his books for my personal library. These are the few books that I can read multiple times. They are packed full of armchair philosophy, brilliant humor, daring adventure, heartfelt love, and above all a complete story. There are no instances of unresolved tales. I appreciate that since I’ve read far too many books that have holes in the story line, time deleted from biographies, and intentional cliff hangers that never get resolved. Bill’s travel journal books are the best. His other books are fantastic. His Brief History of Nearly Everything was a vast undertaking for me but I finished it. Remember, I had to sound out all the words.

See all of Bill’s authorship projects and other things at www.billbrysonbooks.com

See what else is going on at www.talkingsimian.com