At Home: A Short History of Private Life ~Bill Bryson
–published 2010
–Doubleday
–512 pages (452 main text)
–5/5 stars
Books are crafty and clever things. Even when one is exercising economic self-restraint and has taken great pains to eschew dens of iniquity (the local book shops), books have a way of pulling the ol’ snake charmer routine on you, and before you know it you find yourself at home with one, or more, new friends. Such was the case with me on a recent trip north of Kansas City to attend a work-related training. I was innocently listening to NPR when suddenly, without warning (or at least without anything I recognized as a warning), author Bill Bryson was reading to me from, and being interviewed about, his just released book, At Home: A Short History of Private Life. Even had I not partaken of and enjoyed Bryson’s book, A Walk in the Woods, many years prior, I would not have been able to resist the siren song of this book. It will surprise no one that on my lunch break that day I found the nearest bookstore, Borders, and walked out with this [thankfully 40% off] hardback.
Amazon calls it “an authoritative history of domesticity”.
Publisher’s Weekly says, “Bryson 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.”
I say, “there is enough fascinating history…not dry history, but history come alive…in At Home that one could use it as a map for a lifetime of marvelous reading or simply devour it gluttonously as I did.”
On a search through the attic of his 1851 former Church of England rectory, Bill Bryson discovered a door that led out to his roof in a manner that seemed to serve no real purpose whatsoever. As he stood contemplating the medieval Abbey and the village beyond, the scope of history began to spread out before him and he found himself amazed with the idea of those who had not only built and then lived in this rectory, but had also been a part of the long history of time that led up to this very moment. Bryson decided to explore that history within the framework of the home upon which he stood. What follows is a rich and detailed history of the home, room by room, that reveals more treasures about life and living than I could ever put a dent in by way of description. After the introduction, itself an attention grabbing discussion about the number of people who have been buried in the local churchyard over the past 150+ years, Bryson begins this work with an exploration of the year 1851 by telling the story of John Paxton, the rather extraordinary individual who designed and built the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition.
I must tell you that at this point I was hopelessly captivated. I read the introduction and first chapter immediately upon my return home, and then turned around and re-read that entire section aloud to my wife, a condition I found myself repeating many times over the next several days as I devoured Bryson’s book. Bryson’s room by room examination of his house, fascinating in its own right, provides the foundation for flights of fancy that nearly overwhelm the reader with tangible history. Again I find myself doing something I am often reluctant to do, which is to turn to the words of someone else to describe in more concise terms what I am finding difficult to keep from turning into a book-length review:
“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)” ~Publisher’s Weekly
Lest you be misled, At Home is not a book crammed full of interesting but quickly passed over factoids. What At Home is mostly about is people–fascinating, inventive, daring, dastardly, wise, foolish, fortunate and cursed, unforgettable and often forgotten people. Especially the forgotten. Take this example from the final room on Bryson’s home tour:
“Clearly, Britain’s ancient heritage needed a savior. Enter one of the most extraordinary fellows of that extraordinary age. His name was John Lubbock, and it is remarkable that he is not better known. It would be hard to name any figure who did more useful things in more fields and won less lasting fame for it”.
What follows leaves you wondering just how Lubbock is not better known today. Similar stories abound in this book. And Bill Bryson allows us to get a glimpse of these people, a longer glimpse of some than others depending upon the records that exist, in such a way that you cannot help but be drawn in, utterly amazed and flabbergasted at times, and often in awe of the difference just one individual can, and did, make. At Home is by turns funny, enchanting, unbelievable and awe-inspiring. One thing it is not, is dull.
I don’t read a great deal of nonfiction, especially when compared to the amount of fiction I manage to read each year. And what nonfiction I do read tends to be either be Tolkien-related or is a collection of essays (sometimes both!). So when I tell you that, for me, At Home was every bit as page-turning as any novel I have read of late, I really am not exaggerating. This sort of historical journey is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you do have leanings at all towards this kind of book, I cannot with good conscience allow you to continue on with your day without insisting that you go right out and pick up a copy for yourselves. At Home: A Short History of Private Life is one of my favorite reads of 2010 and I am grateful that the radio gremlins were in cahoots with the book fairies so that I was led astray, just this once. š
I am also not a big reader of non-fiction — however, your review of this one has truly intrigued me. I’m excited to take a look at this one the next time I’m in the bookshop! I do enjoy a non-fiction that reads like a narrative, so I mustn’t pass this one up!
That sounds like a wonderful book. I believe I may have to add it to my list.
Carl you didn’t mention whether this book has photos or not. It’s available on audio, my standard format for reading, but if it has lots of photos I’ll need to get the paper copy.
You should read The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and A Short History of Nearly Everything, both by Bryson. Both are great books too.
Non fiction is really not my cup of tea normally unless it involves America’s Founding Fathers. For some reason I’m fascinated with that time period of our history.
I’m glad you enjoyed the book above though. Sounds unique for sure.
Jeff S: There was actually a good bit about Jefferson and Monticello and also about Mount Vernon in here. There was a good bit about A LOT of stuff.
Jim: It didn’t have photos, but it did have a handful of illustrations that were very nice. These were old, very skillful illustrations. I actually have Thunderbolt Kid on my shelf and am looking forward to reading it even more after finishing this one, thanks Jim.
Mosker: It was a good one!
Coffee and a Book Chick: I suggest pulling it off the shelf in your local bookstore and reading the intro. It should give you a good idea if you are going to like this or not.
I really liked his Shakespeare book and the one about Australia. this one is on my library hold list but i am 20th. Bryson also has another one coming out later this year about the Royal Society that i also think will be good!
This sounds excellent. I read several of Bryson’s books and have never been disappointed. Great review Carl.
Bibliphile: Well if you like Bryson, you’ll be thrilled by this one. I think he pulled out all the stops. I can only imagine that he probably had difficulty deciding when to move on to the next room because there was probably a ton of stuff that he found in his research that he didn’t include.
Melanie: I really do have to read more of his books. I’m 2 for 2 in really enjoying what I have read.
Well, another one goes on the “Get Later” list, for either purchase or library loan once we’re set up in the new city. This one may cheer me up, or not, I’m suffering feelings of loss today (see my blog), about my own home. I enjoyed his Walk in the Woods a lot, so I know he is a good writer and can paint a scene evocative of his surroundings. Thank you for the review, Carl.
I’ve heard some great things about his books but have yet to pick one up. Might be time to change that.
I’ll have to stop by the library and see if this one is available. It sounds fascinating.
I went through a phase of Bill Bryson’s books a couple of years back. Loved his travel ones. Haven’t gotten around to this yet, though I hope to at some point.
I love Bill Bryson, I started with A Walk in the Woods a few years ago and I’ve been working my way through the rest ever since. I’ll have to add this to the list!
i love reads that have you portions of it aloud to someone, though the results are usually best when it isn’t the random person in a coffee shop.
the daughter and i are gearing up for nanowrimo. on the way home last night from an informative meeting about the young writers program, natalya was asking me what i would write about. i didn’t know. she suggested a few things but the last was that i could write about a house, or multiple houses and explore each room. not a bad idea but i wasn’t sure how one would go about it. needless to say i can’t wait until she gets home to tell her about Bryson’s book.
~L
This is why reading book blogs is so BAD for me. I picked up this book last week, but put it back on the shelf because I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it (even though like you I really enjoyed A Walk in the Woods). I even saw it while visiting a small bookstore in Ireland a couple days ago (you can see the European cover here: http://www.anglotopia.net/anglophilia/details-on-bill-brysons-latest-book-at-home-interviews-videos-and-excerpts-inside/) and again passed it up. But based on your review it looks like I’m going to need to read this one real soon!
Stephanie: Reading book blogs is bad for All of us! š I hope you give in at some point and read this.
L: Yes, random victims of outloud reading may or may not be so understanding, or enthusiastic, as a willing listener. š Best wishes to you both on your writing in November.
bekkah: I can easily see why you would be doing that, I’ll be adding more of his books to my reading journey as well.
Fence: If you liked them I suspect you will enjoy this one a great deal.
sgist: I hope they have it.
Amy: I can certainly recommend starting with this one. It is longer than many of them, but GOOD!
Richard: This might be an interesting book to read when you get settled since homes are such a major part of your life right now. And I can easily see why you would be going through a sense of loss.
Oh I do love me some Bill Bryson. Had no idea he had a new one out. “A Walk in the Woods” absolutely cracked. me. up. And as a small town girl at heart I loved “The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America” which was pretty much laugh-out-loud funny every other page or so. Here’s a quote to whet your whistle: “Hardly anyone ever leaves [Des Moines, Iowa]. This because Des Moines is the most powerful hypnotic known to man. Outside town there is a big sign that says, WELCOME TO DES MOINES. THIS IS WHAT DEATH IS LIKE. There isn’t really. I just made that up.” š
Rich and I heard him on NPR that day, too, and both of us were immediately intrigued! I’m really hoping to get him this for Christmas (only reason I haven’t already bought it is that I’m afraid he’s going to haul off and buy it for himself one of these days). Anyway, I’m so glad to hear it’s as good as it sounded. Actually, you managed to make it sound even better than Bryson himself had! š
Debi: Wasn’t that great? It was just a tiny sample but it just hooked you! It is every bit as good as the NPR sample indicated. You just need to tell Rich to stop buying stuff for himself between now and Christmas! š
Jen: I need to read that one, sounds irreverently humorous.
This book was one of a few that I won during the 24-hour readathon, and I’m eager to get into it, especially after you mentioned how you enjoyed it! I’ve read a few others of Bryson’s, but *still* not “A Walk in the Woods”. I’ll try to make it one of my November reads.
Valerie: What a great prize! I just printed off a 50% off Barnes and Noble coupon as it is one of the top 20 selling books now and I’m going to snag a copy for a Christmas gift for someone, who doesn’t read this blog, that I know will love it.
Great review!! I admit, this was already on my TBR, (love Bill Bryson!), but you’ve just moved it near the top of the list. This sounds like a great book to give my dad; I just hope no one else in the family gets the same idea!
Emily: Thanks! I hope you enjoy it every bit as much as I did, or more. I just picked up the Shakespeare book at the library the other day.
A Walk in the Woods is one of my most favorite books– yet one that many are always surprised to hear me list. But you have been able to describe in one post, albeit not about the same book, but Bryson all the same, that describes his genius. Thank you for that! I can’t wait to read this one!
I do not read much non-fiction. Actually, I tend to have a tough time with it, but I do LOVE history, and when told in a good story…well…I find it very enthralling. Your review of this book has left me with a great desire to read this book. It really,and truly sounds like a book that I would find captivating as it sounds incredibly fascinating.
Now…to get my hands on this book…library or purchase??? (rhetorical question, by the way)
I’m a big Bryson fan but also love this kind of domestic/cultural history, so I knew right away that I wanted to read this book and immediately put it on hold at my library. I thought I would never finish the first chapter because I kept getting up to go find my husband and read bits of it to him, and I hadn’t gotten much farther along before I decided I would have to buy my own copy in order to prepare a book review on it for the library book review series of which I’m program chairman.
As I read it I was increasingly reminded of James Burke’s “Connections” series, as Bryson kept tying together people and events across chapters. I love finding coincidences of this kind in my own research, so I really appreciated that.
Like you, I devoured the book, but gluttonously rather than “glutinously.”
Suzanne: Sounds like you were having the same experience with it that I did. I read many, many parts of this more than once because I had to read it aloud to Mary.
And thanks for catching the error. That’s what happens when you type fast and spell check doesn’t tell you that you are making the wrong word choices. š
Ibeeg: This was one I knew I couldn’t wait for the library for, but that was mostly because of being so sucked in by NPR. Whether you buy it or check it out, I hope you read it. I think you would enjoy it.
Jessica: He is. I pulled The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid up from the downstairs library to start reading this weekend.
I’ve been going on a bit of a history binge related to social history lately, and this book fits in perfectly! Onto my Christmas list it goes! Should I thank you? or the book fairies? lol I’m glad you really enjoyed it, Carl, and I’m pretty sure I will too. Thanks for a great review.