Bill Bryson - Life, Bibliography

Writer, born in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. In 1977 he moved to England and settled in North Yorkshire. His travel books include the best-sellers The Lost Continent and Neither Here Nor There (1991), and among his books on the English language are Mother Tongue (1990) and Made in America (1994). Notes From A Small Island (1995) recounts his last trip around Britain before returning to America, when he produced Notes From a Big Country (1998). He returned to England again with his family in 2003, settling in Norfolk. Later books include A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003), for which he won the 2004 Aventis Prize for popular science books, and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (2007). In 2005 he was appointed Chancellor of Durham University.

William "Bill" McGuire Bryson (born December 8, 1951) is a best-selling American-born British author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on scientific subjects.

Life

Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Bryson was educated at Drake University but dropped out in 1972 after deciding to backpack around Europe for four months.

In the mid-1970s, Bryson began working in a psychiatric hospital in Virginia Water, Surrey, England, where he met and married his English wife, Cynthia, a nurse.

In 1995, Bryson returned to live in Hanover, New Hampshire for some years.

Also in 2003, in conjunction with World Book Day, voters in Great Britain chose Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island as that which best sums up British identity and the state of the nation.

In 2004, Bryson won the prestigious Aventis Prize for best general-science book with A Short History of Nearly Everything.

Bryson has also written two works on the history of the English language - Mother Tongue and Made in America - and, more recently, an update of his guide to usage, Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (published in its first edition as The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words in 1983).

In 2005, Bryson was appointed Chancellor of Durham University, succeeding the late Sir Peter Ustinov.

Bibliography

Books on travel

The Palace Under the Alps and Over 200 Other Unusual, Unspoiled, and Infrequently Visited Spots in 16 European Countries (1985) The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989) Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe (1991) Notes from a Small Island (1995) (travels in the United Kingdom, his farewell to the country he was temporarily leaving; adapted for television by Carlton Television in 1998) A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1998) (co-stars Stephen Katz) I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away (US) / Notes From a Big Country (UK) (1998) (columns about moving back to the USA) In a Sunburned Country (US) / Down Under (UK) (2000) (travels in Australia) Bill Bryson's African Diary (2002) (travels in Africa for CARE International, to whom all royalties and profits were donated) Walk About (2002) (Combined in one volume are Down Under and A Walk in the Woods)

Books on language

The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way (1990) Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States (1994) Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (2002)

Books on science

A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)

Memoir

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir (2006) ISBN 0-385-60826-8 (UK) ISBN 0-7679-1936-X (US)