Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson (born 1951) is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as no less humorous, though heavily criticized books on the English language. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he was educated at Drake University but dropped out in August 1973 while on holiday in England. Bryson then began working in a mental asylum. Here he met his English wife, who was a nurse in the asylum, and they settled in England in 1977, remaining there through most of the 1980s. Living in North Yorkshire and mainly working as a journalist, he eventually became chief copy editor of the business section of The Times and then deputy national news editor of the business section of The Independent. He left journalism in 1987. Bryson returned to live in the United States in 1995, residing in Hanover, New Hampshire for some years. In 2003, however, Bryson and his family returned to England, where they now live once again.
In 2003, in conjunction with World Book Day, voters in England chose Bryson's book Notes From a Small Island as the book that best sums up England's 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 written two works on the history of the English language, Mother Tongue and Made In America. However, these books have been criticized for their abundance of factual errors, urban myths, and folk etymologies. While Bryson is passionate about languages, he holds no degree in linguistics.
List of works
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 (1993)
- Notes from a Small Island (1995) (travels in the United Kingdom, adapted for television by Carlton Television in 1998)
- A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1997)
- I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away (US Edition) / Notes From a Big Country (UK Edition) (1998, columns about moving back to the USA)
- In a Sunburned Country (US edition) / Down Under (UK edition) (2000, travels in Australia)
- Bill Bryson's African Diary (2002, travels in Africa)
Books on language
- Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way (1989)
- Made in America: an Informal History of the English Language in the United States (1994)
- Troublesome Words (English language usage guide for writers)
Books on science
- A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)
