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Bill Bryson

    8 de diciembre de 1951

    Bill Bryson domina el arte de capturar la experiencia humana a través del humor y la observación perspicaz. Sus crónicas de viajes, que a menudo se centran en los pintorescos rincones de América y Europa, están imbuidas de una aguda perspicacia y un optimismo contagioso. El estilo único de Bryson, que no teme comparar diferencias culturales y examinar lo aparentemente ordinario con fascinación, lo convierte en un narrador querido. Más allá de sus escapadas de viaje, también se dedica a obras de divulgación científica, en las que hace accesibles y cautivadores temas complejos como la ciencia y la historia del lenguaje, todo ello con su ingenio característico.

    Bill Bryson
    Last Continent & Neither Here Nor There
    One Summer: America 1927
    The Body
    A Really Short Journey Through the Body
    The Body Illustrated
    Una breve historia de casi todo
    • Una breve historia de casi todo

      • 640 páginas
      • 23 horas de lectura

      Bill Bryson se describe como un viajero renuente, pero ni siquiera cuando está en su casa, en la seguridad de su estudio, puede contener esa curiosidad que siente por el mundo que le rodea. En Una breve historia de casi todo intenta entender qué ocurrió entre la Gran Explosión y el surgimiento de la civilización, cómo pasamos de la nada a lo ahora somos.

      Una breve historia de casi todo
      4,2
    • The Body Illustrated

      A Guide for Occupants

      • 560 páginas
      • 20 horas de lectura

      The book has achieved bestseller status in both hardback and paperback formats, highlighting its widespread popularity and appeal among readers. Its compelling narrative and engaging characters have resonated with a diverse audience, contributing to its commercial success. This recognition underscores the book's impact and relevance in contemporary literature.

      The Body Illustrated
      4,6
    • A Really Short Journey Through the Body

      • 144 páginas
      • 6 horas de lectura

      'A sure fire winner . . . sparkles with interest and excitement throughout' Guardian Best Children's Books of 2023 'Offers children a series of fascinating scientific facts' Daily Telegraph We spend our whole lives in one body and yet most of us have practically no idea how it works and what goes on inside it. Want to know why the skin is the biggest organ? Why our brains can see into the future? Or why your eyes are back to front? Packed full of facts, big numbers (such as the amount of microbes that make you) and small numbers (the size of those very tiny microbes) all in full-colour. This non-fiction book, packed with wonder from the globally bestselling Bill Bryson is a head-to-toe tour of the most amazing thing about you - YOUR BODY!

      A Really Short Journey Through the Body
      4,5
    • The Body

      • 544 páginas
      • 20 horas de lectura

      "Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, and simultaneously published in hardcover in Great Britain by Doubleday, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, a division of Penguin Random House Ltd., London, in 2019."--Title page verso.

      The Body
      4,3
    • In the summer of 1927, America had a booming stock market, a president who worked just four hours a day (and slept much of the rest), a devastating flood of the Mississippi, a sensational murder trial, and an unknown aviator named Charles Lindbergh who became the most famous man on earth. It was the summer that saw the birth of talking pictures, the invention of television, the peak of Al Capone's reign of terror, the horrifying bombing of a school in Michigan, the thrillingly improbable return to greatness of an over-the-hill baseball player named Babe Ruth, and an almost impossible amount more. In this hugely entertaining book, Bill Bryson spins a story of brawling adventure, reckless optimism and delirious energy. With the trademark brio, wit and authority that has made him Britain's favourite writer of narrative non-fiction, he brings to life a forgotten summer when America came of age, took centre stage, and changed the world for ever.

      One Summer: America 1927
      4,2
    • Last Continent & Neither Here Nor There

      • 498 páginas
      • 18 horas de lectura

      Bill Bryson drove 14,000 miles in search of the mythical small town of his youth. Instead he found a lookalike strip of gas stations, motels and hamburger joints; a continent lost to itself through greed, pollution and television, and lost to him because he had become a foreigner in his own country. A funny and serious view of smalltown America.

      Last Continent & Neither Here Nor There
      4,2
    • Bill Bryson's beautifully illustrated book explores the evolution of the English language, from its earliest words to the first dictionaries. Suitable for all ages, it answers intriguing questions about language origins, including Viking influences and Shakespeare's contributions, making it an extraordinary journey through words and humor.

      A Really Short History of Words
      4,0
    • The Complete Notes

      • 679 páginas
      • 24 horas de lectura

      After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson took the decision to move Mrs Bryson, little Jimmy et al. back to the States for a while. But before leaving his much-loved Yorkshire, Bryson insisted on taking one last trip around old Blighty, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had for so long been his home. The resulting book, Notes from a Small Island, is a eulogy to the country that produced Marmite, George Formby, by-elections, milky tea, place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey and Shellow Bowels, Gardeners' Question Time and people who say, 'Mustn't grumble'. Britain will never seem the same again.Once ensconced back home in New Hampshire, Bryson couldn't resist the invitation to write a weekly dispatch for the Mail on Sunday's Night & Day magazine. Notes from a Big Country is a collection of eighteen months' worth of his popular columns about that strangest of phenomena - the American way of life. Whether discussing the dazzling efficiency of the garbage disposal unit, the exoticism of having your groceries bagged for you, or the mind-numbing frequency of commercial breaks on American TV, Bill Bryson brings his inimitable brand of bemused wit to bear on the world's richest and craziest country.The Complete Notes combines two of Bill Bryson's best-loved travel books in one volume, It demonstrates his unique take on life - from either side of the pond.

      The Complete Notes
      4,1
    • A Walk in the Woods

      • 350 páginas
      • 13 horas de lectura

      The longest continuous footpath in the world, the Appalachian Trail stretches along the East Coast of the United States, from Georgia to Maine, through some of the most arresting and celebrated landscapes in America. At the age of forty-four, in the company of his friend Stephen Katz (last seen in the bestselling Neither Here nor There), Bill Bryson set off to hike through the vast tangled woods which have been frightening sensible people for three hundred years. Ahead lay almost 2,200 miles of remote mountain wilderness filled with bears, moose, bobcats, rattlesnakes, poisonous plants, disease-bearing tics, the occasional chuckling murderer and - perhaps most alarming of all - people whose favourite pastime is discussing the relative merits of the external-frame backpack. Facing savage weather, merciless insects, unreliable maps and a fickle companion whose profoundest wish was to go to a motel and watch The X-Files, Bryson gamely struggled through the wilderness to achieve a lifetime's ambition - not to die outdoors.

      A Walk in the Woods
      4,1
    • It is the driest, flattest, hottest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents and still Australia teems with life - a large portion of it quite deadly. In tact, Australia has more things that can kill you in a very nasty way than anywhere else. Ignoring such dangers - and yet curiously obsessed by them - Bill Bryson journeyed to Australia and promptly fell in love with the country. And who can blame him ? The people are cheerful, extrovert, quick-witted and unfailingly obliging : their cities are safe and clean and nearly always built on water ; the food is excellent ; the beer is cold and the sun nearly always shines. Life doesn't get much better than this...

      Down Under
      4,1
    • At Home

      • 581 páginas
      • 21 horas de lectura

      In these pages, the beloved Bill Bryson gives us a fascinating history of the modern home, taking us on a room-by-room tour through his own house and using each room to explore the vast history of the domestic artifacts we take for granted. As he takes us through the history of our modern comforts, Bryson demonstrates that whatever happens in the world eventually ends up in our home, in the paint, the pipes, the pillows, and every item of furniture. Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet, and his sheer prose fluency makes At Home one of the most entertaining books ever written about private life.

      At Home
      4,0
    • The Weather Makers

      • 357 páginas
      • 13 horas de lectura

      Sometime this century the day will arrive when the human influence on the climate will overwhelm all other natural factors. If nothing is done, the twenty-first century will see global warming that could lead to conditions the planet has not seen in forty million years. With one out of every five living things on this planet committed to extinction by the levels of greenhouse gases that will accumulate in the next few decades, we are now reaching a global climatic tipping point. The Weather Makers is both an urgent warning and a call to arms, outlining the history of climate change, how it will unfold over the next century, and what we can do to prevent a cataclysmic future. Along with a riveting history of how climate change has shaped our planet's evolution, Flannery offers specific suggestions for action for both lawmakers and individuals, from investing in renewable power sources like wind, solar, and geothermal energy, to offering an action plan with steps each and every one of us can take right now to reduce deadly CO[subscript 2] emissions by as much as 70 percent. The Weather Makers is the most ambitious book yet written by a world-renowned scientist on the greatest crisis facing the twenty-first century. Book jacket.

      The Weather Makers
      4,0
    • The Rough Guide to Sardinia

      Second Edition

      • 400 páginas
      • 14 horas de lectura

      This guide to Sardinia opens with a 16-page section featuring photography of the island's highlights from the beaches of the southern coast to the evocative prehistoric ruins of the nuraghi. The following chapters provide informative accounts of all the sights, from the lively capital of Cagliari to the Smerelda coast. There are reviews of the best places to eat, drink and sleep in every region and practical advice on exploring the island whether by bicycle, car, boat or on foot. Finally, there is comprehensive coverage of Sardinia's history, culture, art and festivals.

      The Rough Guide to Sardinia
      3,5
    • A classic from the New York Times bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods and The Body. After living in Britain for two decades, Bill Bryson recently moved back to the United States with his English wife and four children (he had read somewhere that nearly 3 million Americans believed they had been abducted by aliens—as he later put it, "it was clear my people needed me"). They were greeted by a new and improved America that boasts microwave pancakes, twenty-four-hour dental-floss hotlines, and the staunch conviction that ice is not a luxury item. Delivering the brilliant comic musings that are a Bryson hallmark, I'm a Stranger Here Myself recounts his sometimes disconcerting reunion with the land of his birth. The result is a book filled with hysterical scenes of one man's attempt to reacquaint himself with his own country, but it is also an extended if at times bemused love letter to the homeland he has returned to after twenty years away.

      I'm a stranger here myself : notes on returning to America after twenty years away
      3,9
    • The Penguin Dictionary for Writers and Editors

      • 416 páginas
      • 15 horas de lectura

      Why should I avoid discussing the 'weather conditions'? Can a woman be 'celibate'? When can I use 'due to', or should I play safe and always use 'because of'? What's wrong with the way I'm using 'crescendo'? This book provides a simple guide to the more perplexing and contentious issues of standard written English. The entries are discussed with wit and common sense, and are illustrated with examples of questionable usage taken from leading British and American newspapers. No familiarity with English grammar is needed to learn from this book, although a glossary of grammatical terms is included and there us also an appendix on punctuation. Journalists, copy-writers and secretaries will find this an invaluable handbook, and it will also be a highly enjoyable book for the word-buff.

      The Penguin Dictionary for Writers and Editors
      3,9
    • Bill Brysonâe(tm)s first travel book opened with the immortal line, âe~I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.âe(tm) In this deeply funny and personal memoir, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, in the curious world of 1950s Middle America. It was a happy time, when almost everything was good for you, including DDT, cigarettes and nuclear fallout. This is a book about one boyâe(tm)s growing up. But in Brysonâe(tm)s hands, it becomes everyoneâe(tm)s story, one that will speak volumes âe" especially to anyone who has ever been young.

      The life and times of the Thunderbolt Kid
      3,9
    • Mother Tongue

      • 288 páginas
      • 11 horas de lectura

      The author of the acclaimed The Lost Continent now steers us through the quirks and byways of the English language. We learn why island, freight, and colonel are spelled in such unphonetic ways, why four has a u in it but forty doesn't, plus bizarre and enlightening facts about some of the patriarchs of this peculiar language.

      Mother Tongue
      3,9
    • Notes from a Small Island

      • 415 páginas
      • 15 horas de lectura

      After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson took the decision to move back to the States for a while, to let his kids experience life in another country, to give his wife the chance to shop until 10 p.m. seven nights a week, and, most of all, because he had read that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another, and it was thus clear to him that his people needed him. But before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire, Bryson insisted on taking one last trip around Britain, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. His aim was to take stock of the nation's public face and private parts (as it were), and to analyse what precisely it was he loved so much about a country that produced Marmite, a military hero whose dying wish was to be kissed by a fellow named Hardy, place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey and Shellow Bowells, people who said 'Mustn't grumble', and Gardeners' Question Time -- Back cover

      Notes from a Small Island
      3,9
    • Neither Here Nor There

      • 272 páginas
      • 10 horas de lectura

      Bryson brings his unique brand of humour to travel writing as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet and heads for Europe. Travelling with Stephen Katz--also his wonderful sidekick in "A Walk in the Woods--he wanders from Hammerfest in the far north, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. As he makes his way round this incredibly varied continent, he retraces his travels as a student twenty years before with caustic hilarity. "From the Trade Paperback edition.

      Neither Here Nor There
      3,9
    • Notes from a Big Country

      • 458 páginas
      • 17 horas de lectura

      After nearly two decades in England, Bill Bryson returned to the country of his birth. Gathered here are 18 months' worth of his "Mail on Sunday" columns about that strange phenomena, the American way of life, in which he brings his bemused wit to bear on one of the world's craziest countries.

      Notes from a Big Country
      3,9
    • Cover Illustration: Trevor Scobie Set the controls for the heart of the sun. The Captain bent in the warm air, cursing, felt his hands run over the cold machine, and while he worked he saw a future which was removed from them by the merest breath. He saw the skin peel from the rocket beehive, men thus revealed running, running, mouths shrieking, soundless. Space was a black mossed well where life drowned its roars and terrors. Scream a big scream, but space snuffed it out before it was half up your throat. Men scurried, ants in a flaming matchbox; the ship was dripping lava, gushing steam, nothing! Journey with the century's most popular fantasy writer into a world of wonder and horror beyond your wildest dreams. Contents: - The Fog Horn (1951) - The Pedestrian (1951) - The April Witch (1952) - The Wilderness (1952) - The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl (1948) - Invisible Boy (1945) - The Flying Machine (1953) - The Murderer (1953) - The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind (1953) - I See You Never (1947) - Embroidery (1951) - The Big Black and White Game (1945) - A Sound of Thunder (1952) - The Great Wide World Over There (1952) - Powerhouse (1948) - En la Noche (1952) - Sun and Shadow (1953) - The Meadow (1953) - The Garbage Collector (1953) - The Great Fire (1949) - Hail and Farewell (1953) - The Golden Apples of the Sun (1953)

      The Golden Apples of the Sun
      3,8
    • 'I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to'. And, as soon as Bill Bryson was old enough, he left. Des Moines couldn't hold him, but it did lure him back. After ten years in England, he returned to the land of his youth, and drove almost 14,000 miles in search of a mythical small town called Amalgam, the kind of trim and sunny place where the films of his youth were set. Instead, his search led him to Anywhere, USA; a lookalike strip of gas stations, motels and hamburger outlets populated by lookalike people with a penchant for synthetic fibres. Travelling around thirty-eight of the lower states - united only in their mind-numbingly dreary uniformity - he discovered a continent that was doubly lost; lost to itself because blighted by greed, pollution, mobile homes and television; lost to him because he had become a stranger in his own land. The Lost Continent is a classic of travel literature - hilariously, stomach-achingly funny, yet tinged with heartache - and the book that first staked Bill Bryson's claim as the most beloved writer of his generation.

      The Lost Continent
      3,8
    • In true Bryson style, in a study that manages to be witty, amusing and anecdotal as well as informative, on one of the greatest British dramatists that has ever lived, he recounts his travels during which he discusses Shakespeare and his life with expert academics, actors, directors and theatre managers, while following the Stratford route.

      Shakespeare
      3,8
    • The Road to Little Dribbling

      • 480 páginas
      • 17 horas de lectura

      Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to celebrate the green and kindly island that had become his adopted country. The hilarious book that resulted, Notes from a Small Island, was taken to the nation's heart and became the bestselling travel book ever, and was also voted in a BBC poll the book that best represents Britain.Now, to mark the twentieth anniversary of that modern classic, Bryson makes a brand-new journey round Britain to see what has changed. Following (but not too closely) a route he dubs the Bryson Line, from Bognor Regis to Cape Wrath, by way of places that many people never get to at all, Bryson sets out to rediscover the wondrously beautiful, magnificently eccentric, endearingly unique country that he thought he knew but doesn't altogether recognize any more. Yet, despite Britain's occasional failings and more or less eternal bewilderments, Bill Bryson is still pleased to call our rainy island home. And not just because of the cream teas, a noble history, and an extra day off at Christmas. Once again, with his matchless homing instinct for the funniest and quirkiest, his unerring eye for the idiotic, the endearing, the ridiculous and the scandalous, Bryson gives us an acute and perceptive insight into all that is best and worst about Britain today.

      The Road to Little Dribbling
      3,8
    • Made in America

      • 478 páginas
      • 17 horas de lectura

      Bill Bryson turns away from the highways and byways of middle America, so hilariously depicted in his bestselling The Lost Continent, for a fast, exhilarating ride along the Route 66 of American language and popular culture. In Made In America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land - explaining how a dusty desert hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americas say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up - as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.

      Made in America
      3,7
    • Edited and introduced by Bill Bryson, with contributions from Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Richard Holmes, Martin Rees, Richard Fortey, Steve Jones, James Gleick and Neal Stephenson amongst others, this beautiful, lavishly illustrated book tells the story of science and the Royal Society, from 1660 to the present.

      Seeing Further
      3,6
    • Bill Bryson goes to Kenya at the invitation of Care International, the charity dedicated to working with local communities to eradicate poverty around the world. It is a country that shares many serious human and environmental problems with the rest of Africa : refugees, AIDS, drought and grinding poverty. Travelling around the country, Bryson casts his inimitable eye on a continent new to him, and as a result publishes - the diary. (Adapted from verso)

      Bill Bryson's African diary
      3,5
    • Icons of England

      • 176 páginas
      • 7 horas de lectura

      Following the success of A Portrait of England this book focuses on icons that are quintessentially English. Published in association with the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and introduced by their President, Bill Bryson, this beautifully designed tome is a a celebration of our shared rural heritage. Icons of England combines stunning photography and quotes, poetry, reminiscences and celebrity anecdotes. Highlights include: A full introduction from CPRE President Bill Bryson. A share of the book's profits will go to help support CPRE campaigns. • Bill Bryson explains his fascination with Red Telephone boxes • The Iron Bridge, built in the eighteenth century as the first crossing of the Severn Gorge • The life and history of the great oak trees that dominate our countryside • The thatched cottage and it’s unique welcoming charm • The robin red-breast and friends Contributors include: • Michael Palin • David Lodge • Tony Robinson • Richard Mabey • Joan Bakewell • Simon Jenkins

      Icons of England
      3,4
    • 1000 Traumziele abseits der bekannten Wege

      • 336 páginas
      • 12 horas de lectura

      Dieses außergewöhnliche großformatige Reisebuch stellt über 1000 Alternativen zu den bekanntesten Reisezielen in aller Welt vor, die zwar weniger bekannt, jedoch ebenso faszinierend und spannend sind. Wer die Pyramiden von Gizeh beeindruckend findet, dem könnten auch die Pyramiden von Meroe gefallen. Wer gerne einmal die Lebensfreude des südamerikanischen Karnevals erleben möchte, den interessiert sicherlich statt Rio de Janeiro auch der Karneval von Salvador. Und auch in den bekannten Metropolen wie New York oder London lässt sich noch viel Neues entdecken. In neun Kapiteln kann jeder neue Traumziele entdecken, die seinen Interessen entsprechen. Schon beim Durchblättern kann sich der Leser dank der prächtigen Fotos und informativen Texte inspirieren lassen. Praktische Informationen und nützliche Hinweise zu den Reisezielen helfen zudem bei der konkreten Urlaubsplanung.

      1000 Traumziele abseits der bekannten Wege
    • Eine kurze Geschichte der alltäglichen Dinge

      »Unterhaltung der Extraklasse!« The Times - Mit aktuellem Vorwort des Autors

      • 640 páginas
      • 23 horas de lectura

      Die Welt verstehen ohne einen Fuß vor die Tür zu setzen Was bleibt nach der »Geschichte von fast allem« eigentlich noch zu schreiben? Die Geschichte von fast allem anderen, natürlich. Bill Bryson hat sich daher in seinen vier Wänden umgesehen und sich gefragt: Warum leben wir eigentlich, wie wir leben? Warum nutzen wir ausgerechnet Salz und Pfeffer, und weshalb hat unsere Gabel vier Zinken? Aber es bleibt nicht bei Geschichten von Bett, Sofa und Küchenherd. Die Geschichte des Heims ist auch immer eine der großen Entdeckungen und Abenteuer. Ohne die Weltausstellung in London hätte man vermutlich das Wasserklosett nicht so schnell zu schätzen gelernt. Und ohne die großen Entdecker müssten wir wohl ohne Kaffee, Tee oder Kakao auskommen. Bill Bryson zeigt uns unser Heim, wie wir es noch nie gesehen haben. Und wir verstehen ein wenig mehr, warum es so ist, wie es ist. Ausstattung: 19 sw-Abbildungen

      Eine kurze Geschichte der alltäglichen Dinge