At Home
A Short History of Private Life
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4.1 • 260 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bryson (A Short History of Everything) takes readers on a tour of his house, a rural English parsonage, and finds it crammed with 10,000 years of fascinating historical bric-a-brac. Each room becomes a starting point for a free-ranging discussion of rarely noticed but foundational aspects of social life. A visit to the kitchen prompts disquisitions on food adulteration and gluttony; a peek into the bedroom reveals nutty sex nostrums and the horrors of premodern surgery; in the study we find rats and locusts; a stop in the scullery illuminates the put-upon lives of servants. Bryson follows his inquisitiveness wherever it goes, from Darwinian evolution to the invention of the lawnmower, while savoring eccentric characters and untoward events (like Queen Elizabeth I's pilfering of a subject's silverware). There are many guilty pleasures, from Bryson's droll prose "What really turned the Victorians to bathing, however, was the realization that it could be gloriously punishing" to the many tantalizing glimpses behind closed doors at aristocratic English country houses. In demonstrating how everything we take for granted, from comfortable furniture to smoke-free air, went from unimaginable luxury to humdrum routine, Bryson shows us how odd and improbable our own lives really are.
Customer Reviews
Astonishing
I could spend my whole life trying to compile this much information in a book.... but even if I did, it wouldn't be nearly as engrossing, fun, or thoughtful. At worst, it's an expansive history book, and at it's best it's pure Bryson brilliance.
Loved it
If you enjoyed "A short history of nearly everything" you'll want to read this.
Loved it.
Humorous, well-written, and informative. I really couldn't put it down. It's a great read if you love knowing where our cultural quirks come from, and the origins/history of our surroundings.