What Is True/Slant?
275+ knowledgeable contributors.
Reporting and insight on news of the moment.
Follow them and join the news conversation.
 
May. 15 2010 - 8:15 am | 66 views | 0 recommendations | 0 comments

Vintage quality Bill Bryson – and it’s brand new…

By SCOTT ALEXANDER YOUNG
Bill Bryson was appointed Chancellor of Durham...

Image via Wikipedia

Bill Bryson: The secret life of your home

Ever wondered why forks have four prongs? Or why we choose salt and pepper over other spices? For his new book, Bill Bryson took a trip around his own house to find out why we live the way we do.

via Bill Bryson: The secret life of your home | Life and style | The Guardian.

In one passage, describing the original owner of the house in Norfolk where he and his family now lives, Bryson writes:

“If it was Thomas Marsham’s goal in life to make as little impression as possible upon history, he achieved it gloriously.”

We’re in the presence of a master here, possibly the most informative and yet funniest non-fiction writer of our times. In the wake of that kind of writing, I know when I’m outclassed. So just read the rest of the article, and marvel again at Bryson’s gift for finding such wonder in the seemingly commonplace and mundane. Still on top of his form, after a long run including A Short History of Nearly Everything, the man shows no sign yet of slowing down. It’s enough to make you weep.

 
Previous Post:
Next Post:
 

More on True/Slant Right Now



Comments

DISPLAY
Called-Out Comments All comments
No Comments Yet
Post your comment »
 
Log in for notification options
Comments RSS
 

Post Your Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment

Log in with your True/Slant account.

Previously logged in with Facebook?

Create an account to join True/Slant now.

Facebook users:
Create T/S account with Facebook
 

My T/S Activity Feed

 
     

    About Me

    I have never worked as a secret agent, but I did play one on TV: KGB spy Sergei Kukushkin in mini series The Company. More recently I played a debauched aristocrat in a tasty short film called Last Night in Buenos Aires. I was also the voice of the monster Buffalord in the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, believe it or not. In 'real life' I am a Travel Writer, Scriptwriter, After-Dinner Speaker, Entrepreneur and man-about-many-towns who has written and produced television for Fox Networks UK, the UK Sci-Fi Channel and New Zealand animation facility The Funny Farm. I have also edited or contributed to numerous guidebooks, to cities like Buenos Aires, Florence and London - as well as dear old Budapest of course. Between December and February I was Guest Editor at Time Out Beirut. I have also been fortunate enough to write about travel (and whatever else moves me) for True/Slant as 'The Jet-Set Hobo.' Well, it seemed a fun way to sum up what might laughingly be referred to as my lifestyle, and the label has stuck. There are worse appellations, don't you think?

    See my profile »
    Followers: 62
    Contributor Since: November 2008
    Location:The transit lounge

    What I'm Up To

    The Wildcats of Piran

    pirancatIt may seem an odd occupation for a globe-trotting, nightlife loving bachelor, but over the last few months, I’ve been writing a children’s book called The wild cats of Piran. It’s about a colony of feral cats who live in a small medieval town on the Adriatic sea. The book is intended to appeal to very bright 9 year olds and up. The sort of thing a bookish, cat loving adult could enjoy whipping through in a long afternoon sitting in a snug armchair by an open fire. A great believer in letting the work speak for itself, if you’re at all interested, I suggest you contact the author directly, here and I’ll send you the first few chapters as an attachment. Thank you for listening.