Bill Bryson

American-British author · United States · On the map · Writers · Born 1951 · age 74

William McGuire Bryson is an American journalist and author who was naturalized as a British citizen in 2014. Bryson has written nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Bryson moved to Britain in his twenties and remained in the country for most of his adult life.

Bill Bryson is read about 736 times a day, in 38 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 111 days, one point a day.

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A life in dates

2013Honorary Fellow of the Royal SocietyAward2009Zilveren GriffelAward2006“He hit the water - impacted really is the word for it - at over six hundred miles an hour, with a report so loud that it made birds fly out of trees up to three miles away.”In their wordsp. 78Read the whole statement

“I remember being profoundly amazed that anyone would suppose that a little wooden desk would provide a safe haven in the event of an atomic bomb being dropped on Des Moines.”In their wordsp. 117Read the whole statement

“In those days kitchen matches were heavy-duty implements - more like signal flares than the weedy sticks we get today.”In their wordsp. 170Read the whole statement

“Your brain is marvellously efficient. It requires only about 400 calories of energy a day - about the same as you get in a blueberry muffin.”In their wordsPromotional advertRead the whole statement

2005“...Our guide announces that he's going to take us to the coldest place on Earth, where particles are cooled to within a fraction of a Kelvin. "Ah," says Bryson.”In their words15 November 2005Bill Bryson: The accidental chancellorRead the whole statement

“It would be lovely to think I had become a genius," he smiles, "but the fact is that I've forgotten most of it.”In their words15 November 2005Bill Bryson: The accidental chancellorRead the whole statement

2002Honorary DoctorateAward1951Born8 December 1951

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Bryson in the regalia of Chancellor of Durham University in 2005

Bryson in 2013

In their own words 4

Bill Bryson

4 statements, newest first

I knew more things in the first ten years of my life than I believe I have known at any time since. I knew everything there was to know about our house for a start.
2006 · p. 36, Own words
So to sleep on the sleeping porch required preparation.
2006 · p. 140, Own words
Wow, look at all the places you can park,” he said, as if for all these years he had been cruising endlessly, unable to terminate a journey.
2006 · p. 182, Own words