This book chronicles the early years of The Thunderbolt Kid: Bryson’s childhood alter-ego who terrorized anyone who annoyed him. It’s Bryson at his absolute finest. Even though his childhood happened in the 50s, I had no problem identifying with his experience.

Bryson is laugh-out-loud funny. I don’t mean that in the watered-down LOL variety, either. I actually laughed out loud a number of times. (It made it difficult to read in bed while my wife was trying to sleep.)

Some of his other books suffered from too much filler, not enough killer. Fortunately, that was not the case here. Although the volume’s 400 pages, the font-size is relatively large. This is a compelling joy-ride through 1950s Americana. Every chapter is a gem.

Bryson, Bill. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: Travels through My Childhood. Black Swan, 2007.