• At Home: A Short History of Private Life

  • By: Bill Bryson
  • Narrated by: Bill Bryson
  • Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (494 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
At Home: A Short History of Private Life  By  cover art

At Home: A Short History of Private Life

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: Bill Bryson
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $22.38

Buy for $22.38

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Editorial reviews

A tremendous look at the very dense but often overlooked history of ordinary, everyday life can be found in the brilliant audiobook At Home: A Short History of Private Life, written and narrated by award-winning and appraised author Bill Bryson. This book delivers the perfect combination of lighthearted entertainment and thoroughly researched facts. Bryson’s beautifully constructed prose brings even the most seemingly insignificant of household items to an entirely exciting front. Listeners will find themselves gazing far more closely and with much more appreciation at the small items that make up much of their daily life. Available now from Audible.

Publisher's summary

Here is Bill Bryson’s entertaining and illuminating book about the history of the way we live - complete, unabridged and read by the author.

Bill Bryson was struck one day by the thought that we devote 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. This inspired him to start a journey around his own house, an old rectory in Norfolk, considering how the ordinary things in life came to be. Along the way, he researched 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 he discovered that there is a huge amount of history, interest and excitement - and even a little danger - lurking in the corners of every home.

Where A Short History of Nearly Everything was a sweeping panorama of the world, the universe and everything, At Home peers at private life through a microscope. 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.

©2010 Bill Bryson (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about At Home: A Short History of Private Life

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    277
  • 4 Stars
    155
  • 3 Stars
    46
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    183
  • 4 Stars
    87
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    184
  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
    25
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • lo
  • 07-31-18

Interesting content but poor narration

I found the book's subject matter fascinating. However the experience was marred by the narration, which was less than ideal. Bill's enunciation was unclear and muffled, words are slurred, I had difficulty focusing and following along to his voice. It was also rather monotonous. This books needs a different reader.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

New Speaker Needed acquire within!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Bill Bryson is a terrific writer I have everything he has written to-date, however please use a professional reader on future books. Your voice is far too soft lacking in any emotional impact.

What could Bill Bryson have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Find a professional reader!

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Bill Bryson?

William Roberts was great narrating The History of Nearly Everything. Grover Gardner is another name that comes to mind.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No. The subject matter is too vast and spasmodic.

Any additional comments?

Keep the books coming Bill.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

right up my alley

The trivial nature of this book wad right up my alley. If you like finding out about both the history of words and also where everyday objects came from this is the book for you. I am an unabashed Bryson fan, and he has used one of the techniques which makes him such a good travel writer (weaving 'trivial', but fascinating facts throughout a story) to create this book - it is really good.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best use of a credit

I've listened to "a short history of nearly everything" before and I enjoyed "at home" just as much. It's great for listening to in short bursts as each chapter doesn't rely on the previous one, but is explained in such a way that listening for a longer period isn't overwhelming. I can see myself listening to this again as there is no way I will be able to remember all of it after one reading and I think it would be just as enjoyable a second time around. Bill Bryson is a fantastic reader, really drawing you into his superb writing. I couldn't recommend this more.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Too bad Bill

I just love Bill Bryson's books, but not when he reads them himself. His reading-voice distracts my attention from the content. In this book, the multitude of s-sounds, vocal abbreviations and vocal slurs(that leaving you wondering what he just said) are so annoying, that's it's quite a challenge to keep listening to him read the book. Maybe it would be better if he read in his natural American dialect - more like how he reads "A walk in the woods".

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Informative

At Home is informative and educational in quirky sort of way, but doesn't deliver on the humour evident in some of Bryson's other works. Well researched, this book explodes the myths of the refined and gentile times of old. Bryson does a good job of narrating the book, although at times seemed lacking in expression, making the narration a little dull. If you've got a desire to learn all sorts of factiods of life in centuries gone by, then you'll probably enjoy At Home.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

At Home

A witty, wonderfully excursive wander around the home. Bryson has uncovered so many enthralling stories and apparently endless pieces of fascinating trivia that this audio book is positively addictive!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Beyond bricks and mortar

Hearing Bill read his book is briefly pure pleasure. He threads patterns, beads and narratives in telling story upon story, ancient and modern. How grateful I am to live now, and not then.The only thing I missed was being able to underline and note some of the aspects of private life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A surprisingly deep dive into history from a parsonage

Bill Bryson’s ability to connect seemingly disparate topics via the simple device of a floor plan is a delight.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

hours of captivation for the curios mind

Mr Bryson will take you on a mind's journey through time and across the planet as he opens your eyes to the curious history behind not only the things in your home (and, indeed, the home itself), but the world supporting those innovations as they occurred. A brilliant listen, and practically compulsory if you've read or listened to his not-so-brief, but equally entertaining history of nearly everything else.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!