The life and times of the thunderbolt kid : a memoir Bill Bryson.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-270)

Hometown -- Welcome to kid world -- Birth of a superhero -- The age of exitement -- The pursuit of pleasure -- Sex and other distractions -- Boom! -- School days -- Man at work -- Down on the farm -- What, me worry? -- Out and about -- The public years -- Farewell.

Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century--1951--in the middle of the United States--Des Moines, Iowa--in the middle of the largest generation in American history--the baby boomers. As one of the funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his all-American childhood for memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood wearing a jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck, vanquishing evildoers--in his head--as "The Thunderbolt Kid." Using his fantasy-life persona as a springboard, Bryson re-creates the life of his family in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality--a life at once familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy.--From publisher description.