At Home: a Short History of Private Life

by Bill Bryson

In "At Home", Bill Bryson applies the same irrepressible curiosity, irresistible wit, stylish prose and masterful storytelling that made "A Short History of Nearly Everything" one of the most lauded books of the last decade, and delivers one of the most entertaining and illuminating books ever written about the history of the way we live. Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote a lot more time to studying the battles and wars of history than to considering what history really consists of: centuries of people quietly going about their daily business - eating, sleeping and merely endeavouring to get more comfortable. And that most of the key discoveries for humankind can be found in the very fabric of the houses in which we live. This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, wandering from room to room considering how the ordinary things in life came to be.
Along the way he did a prodigious amount of research on the history of anything and everything, from architecture to electricity, from food preservation to epidemics, from the spice trade to the Eiffel Tower, from crinolines to toilets; and on the brilliant, creative and often eccentric minds behind them. And he discovered that, although there may seem to be nothing as unremarkable as our domestic lives, there is a huge amount of history, interest and excitement - and even a little danger - lurking in the corners of every home.

• ISBN10: 0767919386
• ISBN13: 9780767919388
• Publish Date: 5 October 2010 (first published 27 May 2010)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Pages: 512
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rinn]

I never knew the history of the lightbulb could be so interesting.

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

This review is also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.

Bill Bryson possesses the talent of writing engagingly on any subject.  In At Home, he explores the history of a plethora of aspects of everyday life, many of which we take for granted or consider too mundane for our interest.  His voice shines through his work, humorous, wry, and utterly fascinated by turns.  Bryson clearly wrote At Home as a work of personal interest, inspired by an English parsonage he bought and his own interest in just about any fun fact, but he invites readers to share his enthusiasm and wonderful through a conversational style that treats them friends and colleagues on his journey of discovery.

Bryson organizes At Home by exploring a house room by room, stopping to consider points of curiosity along the way.  In the bedroom, he might discuss the history of mattresses and the place of sex in society, while in the bathroom he expounds on the development of modern plumbing.  The subjects Bryson chooses occasionally seem arbitrary.  For instance, in the chapter on the study, he talks about mice and the other creatures (like bats or dust mites) that may inhabit one’s home—simply because there happen to be mice living in his study.  Nonetheless, a reader will hardly complain a subject is random if it is fascinating all the same—and Bryson ensures that it is.

The organization is also sometimes muddled within a chapter, as Bryson jumps from one century to another and then back again, instead of attempting to write his history strictly chronologically, but the point does not detract very much from the enjoyment of the book.  The entire work is a conglomeration of facts Bryson thinks are cool, so the order the facts appear in is not of the utmost importance.  The claim that Bryson will explore the history of private life by talking about the things in one room at a time helps to give some structure to At Home, but a book of this scope—spanning dozens of topics over hundreds of years—is inevitably going to become scattered.

In additional to historical and technical details, Bryson is intensely interested in the people of history.  At Home includes a number of mini biographies, as Bryson introduces each inventor or other historical player at length—either sympathetically, admiringly, or playfully mockingly as he deems fit.  (Some people have undoubtedly done strange things with their time and wealth in the past, and Bryson has no problem pointing that out.  In the end, however, one can tell he really just thinks these people are fun to discuss.)  His treatment of the movers and the shakers of the past as actual people, rather than tools on the path of progress or historical footnotes, truly sets his work apart and helps bring his book to life.

At Home is a marvelously informative and entertaining book.  Well-written, carefully researched, and full of fun stories, it is the perfect pick for anyone looking for engaging nonfiction or simply a good, interesting book.

[ibeforem]

This is one of those books that fills all the empty spaces in my brain that used to hold phone numbers. Some parts are more dry than others, but I learned a lot of things. I think there’s a little bit of something here for everyone. If furniture and clothing aren’t your thing, maybe architecture and gardens are. Did you know that the color of your wallpaper used to be a sign of how well-off you were? And that some of those colors could then make you sick? Or why Chippendale furniture is so special? Or why brick has gone in and out of fashion as a building material? And why do we eat the meals we do at the time of day we eat them? Maybe I’m a nerd, but I find a lot of this stuff is really interesting. This isn’t as humorous as some of Bryson’s other books, but you still know it’s him.

[Eve1972]

LOVED this one! If you are a history buff and love little tidbits of information, then you will LOVE this book! The author takes you through each room of his 1800's built home (that was once a rectory)and shares fascinating bits of history and stories. Excellent read!