Courtesy Broadway Books
|
Web Exclusive…
Discussion Guide: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid—A Memoir
By Lindsay Mergens, September 2006
Read about Thunderbolt Kid and discuss the book at your next book club meeting
|
About the Book
In The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, best-selling author Bill Bryson (A Walk in the Woods, A Short History of Nearly Everything) reflects on his boyhood in Des Moines, Iowa, during the 1950s, a decade he calls "the most fearful, thrilling, interesting, instructive, eye-popping, lustful, eager, troubled, untroubled, confused, serene, and unnerving time of my life." Through the eyes of the Thunderbolt Kid, Bryson's childhood alter ego, committed to vanquishing insufferable playmates, meddlesome adults, and other assorted morons—and with the small-town Midwest as a backdrop—we view Bryson's loving yet slightly eccentric family while witnessing some of the decade's watershed events.
We meet Bryson's father, Bill, a penny-pinching sportswriter who opened young Billy's eyes to the magic of baseball as well as the strengthening powers of isometrics; his mother, Mary, a career newspaperwoman who (barely) managed a household of five (she once sent Billy to school in his sister's lime-green Capri pants); and a host of unforgettable friends, relatives, and neighbors from his hometown. Taking us along as he valiantly tries to enter the stripper's tent at the Iowa State Fair, ponders the meaning of Bizarro World, and watches Burns and Allen through the windows of his neighbor's house (the only neighbor with a TV), we have a front-row seat as Bryson endures the humiliations—and exhilarations—of being a kid.
AARP: The Nation's Leading Organization for People 50 and Over
AARP is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the interests of people 50 and over. Member benefits include: AARP The Magazine and the monthly AARP Bulletin, as well as savings on insurance and travel. Joining online is fast, easy and only $12.50/year.
From the heyday of comic books and early television to the dawn of the atomic age and the changing face of American culture, Bryson's keen and funny observations offer a unique perspective on a unique time in America—as well as a walk down memory lane.
Read our Q&A with Bill Bryson
For Discussion
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is a snapshot of life in the American 1950s. Consider these questions, and discuss at your book club meeting:
What are some of the strongest memories of your own childhood or adolescence? Why have they stood the test of time?
Why do you think the '50s foster such nostalgia among those who lived through the decade and even those who didn't?
What are some characteristics of the '50s that endure today—for better or worse? Are there any that have all but disappeared?
Additional questions for reading groups
|
