Down Home Humor

 
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE THUNDERBOLT KID: A Memoir 
by Bill Bryson (268)
          ©2006 An earlier Bryson book I read, THE LOST CONTINENT (1989) was a real let-down. I googled the author and discovered that it was one of the earliest books he wrote. Maybe a kindly editor suggested he needed to lighten up with the biting sarcasm and annoying whining, because every other Bryson book I’ve read since has been a winner with me.
          While I was on his official website, I watched the trailer for Thunderbolt Kid. It was a hilarious little clip read by the author himself. His voice was nothing like what I was expecting, and the goofy animation cracked me up. So I just had to read the book. This little treasure reminded me why I love him. This guy can take the most mundane subject and make it hysterically funny.
          This is a wacky, roller coaster ride back in time, and since I’m only two years younger than Bill, and I was a notorious tom-boy growing up, his adventures a lot of times mirrored my own. In fact, if I were to try to write a book about my childhood memoirs, I couldn’t do it, because Bryson beat me to it.
          If you were a kid in the ‘50s, you really ought to read this one. It’s like a cross between Dennis the Menace and Leave It to Beaver, with some Beavis & Butthead thrown in to spice things up. If you are interested in the period of the 50s as the dividing point between who we were then and who we are now, this book won’t disappoint.

ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN 
by Robert Fulghum
          I thought there were going to be kids in this, but it was really a guy's memoirs packaged as a collection of quirky essays. This is a book of "uncommon thoughts on common things"; except I found that a lot of the stuff he was writing about was the same stuff I often thought about, wondered about, and wrote about myself in my journals. So I don't know how uncommon his thoughts actually are. I bet anyone could read this book and find plenty of things they've found themselves pondering or say "Hey, I thought of that when I was a kid!" But that's what made the book fun. I could really identify with a lot of what he was saying.
          The book is short, funny, and easy to read. The essay on Mother Teresa came as a nice surprise; not to be missed.

LAKE WOEBEGONE DAYS
by Garrison Keillor
          I'd heard of Garrison Keillor and knew he had a public radio show, but I didn't really know what to expect. What a treat! I loved this book and didn't want it to end, so I read it slowly and savored it. It brought back so many memories of my long ago, small-town childhood. It was a hilarious read, and there were actually times when I laughed out loud. The best way I can describe the author: a modern-day Mark Twain, but even funnier. I recommend it for the winter blues or anytime you need a quick pick-me-up.