Made in America

By: Bill Bryson

Narrated by: William Roberts

Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land, explaining how a dusty hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up, as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question, and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.

©1994 Bill Bryson (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Bryson offers a playfully anecdotal account of the etymology of distinctive words and phrases that help to create a distinctly American English." ( Publishers Weekly)
"A treat....Filled with surprises....A literate exploration of why we use, or mangle, our native tongue." ( USA Today)

Once again, Bryson is Wonderful

BB has again created a masterpiece of interesting facts, truths and stories. ‘Made in America’ though slightly dated now (not in content, just timing) is a wonderful read and if you are familiar with and enjoy his books, a must read.

Bryson Not Reading Makes For a Rare Fail

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Bill Bryson is both a great writer and reader. His books have been a high point in my time here at Audible, but the William Roberts doesn't get Bryson's pacing or timing and as a result much of the humor is lost. If Audible could get a rerecord, I would recommend this, but I would suggest not downloading it and reading it on paper or digital over this performance.

Just okay.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It is basically Bill Bryson's latest formula book. A fair amount of interesting stuff but no plot or any real coherent theme. A fair amount of information on word origins but really just another book of Bryson's somewhat humorous thoughts. Not nearly as good as his older books. The reader is not as good as Bryson as he does not seem to grasp the intended humor of what he is reading.

Educational and fascinating!

Keeps you entertained throughout and flows easily from one topic to the next. Connecting the dots between historical and modern day America

Not a good book for listening

I started listening to this book, but found the content was better read in print. With the topic being American English, the author often lists words and phrases that I wanted to read over again and study a little bit to get the full meaning of what he was saying. As an audio book, it wasn’t possible to spend any time thinking about the words as they were read quickly and passed over with no opportunity to review and ponder. Also, I hated the narration of this book. The reader overly-dramatizes and it was distracting. Bryson’s voice is quiet and his wit was lost with this narrator’s emphasis on the wrong words and his tendency to sound as if he were yelling. I found the Kindle book for $1.99 and purchased that instead. I can’t recommend this particular book as an audio book

Typical Bryson on Everything American

Would you consider the audio edition of Made in America to be better than the print version?

Don't know - haven't read the print!

Any additional comments?

I have read several of Bill Bryson's book and find him one of the best at relating history in an interesting way. He does a fine job in this book highlighting mostly American phrases and how they came about, but covers an incredible amount of other items like how shopping centers ended the downtown department store era and the evolution of the American made car.

The only negative I can say is that some of the lists of items he goes over, particularly in the phrases area, are a bit long and get old pretty quick. It can be a bit of a uneasy ride as he describes a fascinating period of time, then goes into a list of words that came about from that period. I found myself checking out halfway through many of those lists, but I think it's worth the annoyance and a little patience goes a long way.

Some of this material is covered in his "One Summer: America 1927" book, which I imagine he found that year so fascinating while working on this book (I can't recommend 1927 enough BTW, awesome book!).

Overall this is a great listen and a treasure for any American who loves understanding of the culture around them. I think baby boomers would absolutely love this as it would be a trip down memory lane through the golden years.

this is a classic Bill Bryson book

Although this is a classic Bill Bryson book, the overaching subject of the English language makes the book feel a little bit more rambling and all over the place then some of his other work.
I had a little bit of trouble getting through it but I still think it was definitely worth the read!

I did not know that

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Fast and furious has nothing on this book. I could not listen as fast as the story goes. Spurts of delightful insight.

What does William Roberts bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good voice. Easy for my old ears to understand.

Any additional comments?

Mr. Bryson`s subtle moralizing is based on arguable grounds. I agree with him in most cases but consider us both naive about life in the fast lane.

Not bad, but hardly Bryson's best effort

I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting, but this book did not meet it. At its best it is a fairly light, entertaining look at English lexicon and its origins.....but it frequently drifts into pedantic detours that seem to serve no real purpose. The entire book reminds me of a series of "Paul Harvey....rest of the story" entries. Mind you I love Paul Harvey-ish stories....and if you do too this book is for you.

Made in America misses mark without Bryson's narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

No, I would recommend purchasing a print copy.

Any additional comments?

As in most of Bill Bryson's audio books it's his narration that brings the book to life and makes the listening experience so much more enjoyable. William Roberts narration is fine, but as other reviewers mentioned he doesn't "get" Bryson's timing and cadence. Although Made in America is not my most liked Bryson book (my personal favorites being At Home and The Short History of Nearly Everything) I did appreciate the history, trivia and story telling of the book. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Bryson might give us an abridged version of Made in America in the near future.