At Home

A Short History of Private Life

By: Bill Bryson

Narrated by: Bill Bryson

Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

From one of the most beloved authors of our time—more than six million copies of his books have been sold in this country alone - a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home.

“Houses aren’t refuges from history. They are where history ends up.”

Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.”

The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom, sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade; and so on, as Bryson shows how each has fig­ured in the evolution of private life. Whatever happens in the world, he demonstrates, ends up in our house, in the paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture.

Bill Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet, and he is a master at turning the seemingly isolated or mundane fact into an occasion for the most diverting exposi­tion imaginable. His wit and sheer prose fluency make At Home one of the most entertaining books ever written about private life.

©2010 Bill Bryson (P)2010 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"There are many guilty pleasures, from Bryson's droll prose - "What really turned the Victorians to bathing, however, was the realization that it could be gloriously punishing" - to the many tantalizing glimpses behind closed doors at aristocratic English country houses. In demonstrating how everything we take for granted, from comfortable furniture to smoke-free air, went from unimaginable luxury to humdrum routine, Bryson shows us how odd and improbable our own lives really are." ( Publishers Weekly)

absolutely riveting!

I wad spell bound all the way to the end. this is one book I will Begin again and savor it once more.

Great book

I am really beginning to like bills books. This is the second I have read and it was as good as the other.

Fascinating, as all Bill Bryson’s books

Fascinating, as all Bill Bryson’s books. I had no particular interest in the topic, but I knew that whatever Bill writes is worth reading, and I was right!

Fascinating!

I loved every little knowledgeable tidbit and tangent in this book. I found myself telling my husband, friends, and coworkers many of the facts I learned. Very fun and interesting!

Loved it

Another fantastic book by bill Bryson. Can’t wait to read another of his books- or several more of his books.

Another outstanding book by Bill Bryson 

Bill Bryson’s attention to detail is exquisite; in telling this story about the evolution of the home he leaves nothing out. It is entertaining and informative and will not doubt allow me to shine at cocktail parties with the knowledge I have gained from this book.
Highly recommended.

Another wonderful Bryson

Another entertaining look at life and history from one of my favorite writers. Walking through the English parsonage he calls home, Bryson explores the history and uses of homes themselves, and many of the minutiae in them.

While parts of the bathroom and bedroom had a strong "ick" factor, his explorations of the 19th and early 20th century --explorers, inventors, thinkers, the Industrial Revolution --was fabulous, and invites the reader to read further about people or inventions of particular interest, with excellent bibliographic references.

Highly recommended.

Wonderful

Loved it , Bryson has an unique way of making his books both entertaining and instructive.

Makes you appreciate modern times

This book was exceptional overall. I never gave much thought on why some things in our homes are they way they are. A few chapters had a little too much background on architects but overall a very enjoyable listen.

Entertaining

I really enjoyed Mr. Bryson's reading and writing style. Droll. I also like the way the story meanders from one thing to another and you get tidbits of information that may be of use when you least expect it. For example, shortly after listening to this book, I was reading Mansfield Park, in which the ha-ha features significantly. I'd never heard of it before and wouldn't have had any idea what it was if I hadn't just finished At Home.