From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language comes a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir. 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. 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 with a tee shirt that identified him as "The Thunderbolt Kid". Using his old fantasy-life persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson recreates the life of his family in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality.

Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, and full of his inimitable, pitch-perfect observations, THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE THUNDERBOLT KID is as wondrous a book as Bill Bryson has ever written. It will enchant anyone who has ever been young.