Made In The America

The books quality is abysmal. Pages have been coming off and it is not even 15 days since I bought. Unfortunately I can’t return it since return period has passed.

I was so wondered when i read about evolution of american assent from european assent!

Good

a very enjoyable read,do buy ,bill Bryson is super.

bill bryson never disappoints!

I had a shock when the ooh arrived.....the size of it !I enjoyed reading it but found it difficult to hold when relaxing... I must say Bill Bryson has immense knowledge and can impart it well... I had hoped to find a little more about the way Americanisms are creeping into the English language (Which I deplore.

I am a great fan of Bill Bryson so it is maybe unfair for me to comment. But - I think I have every book he has written and this is the latest. He is generally known for his acute sense of humour and sharp observation, so this book is a bit of a surprise. One is suddenly aware of his wide interests and deep research that he has put into this book on the development of the American English language. Quite fascinating.

I felt the final chapter let this down, being a summary of how the education system in America isn't all that bad. Since it was written a decade ago now, there's definitely a new edition to be made about the neologisms that have erupted in the new digital age. Bryson occasionally fails to find the etymological roots of words ( eg political correctness) but other than these tiny caveats this is a bloody brilliant gripping read. From the wright bros to Piggly Wiggly, Kellogg's to Macy's, its an absolute treasure of man stuff. This has provided me with hours of useful/ useless dinner party trivia to bore with: and not only that, I will also be able to Annoy my students too. I love the way he takes apart every myth concerning the founding fathers and exposes the slaughter of the indigenous population. Top, top stuff.

This is both an account of American English (which is what I got the book for) and American history. Difficult to say which predominates. It's not written in as much of a wry style as many of Bryson's books so I found it a little dry. Not Bryson's best work in my view, but a scholarly account nevertheless. I remain a fan of Bill Bryson, this is the only book (so far) I haven't fully enjoyed.

I was expecting a deep dive into the American language and traditions, much along the lines of Melvyn Bragg's Adventure of English, but this is so much more. I don't (yet) know too much about American history, so some of the myths Bryson blows up weren't too familiar to me, but a lot of it blew my mind is a sort of 'but... hey!' kind of way. A huge selection of themes and a sweeping timeline means that this will be difficult to beat for book of the year, already!