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)

For history nerds, like me!

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

This was fun and unexpected, I thought some parts dragged but in general I loved hearing almost stream of consciousness history and jumping around to explain some small aspect of life and how it came to be. Not for everyone, bu I enjoyed it!!

Bryson's narration is annoying.

Love the writing, love the content, but I always find that authors who read their own work are too "precious" -- they are too much in love with their words. I can tell that he is not British, but he has faux Britishisms in his speech which bug me -- such as the way he prounounces "respiratory." But, the book is great. Much fun to read.

Saturated with delightful facts and dry humor

At Home is packed with amazing facts dealing with the many comforts of the developed world and their creation. The prose is so easily digestible and memorable that the average listener will have no problem taking away something of value. I am considering keeping hard copies of his books on my shelf to use as reference. If you want to know the story behind most of the items in your life, leaving no juicy detail out, this is the audiobook for you.

Great book!

Anyone interested in history will enjoy this book. I enjoyed the author's narration, too.
Looking forward to "reading" more of his books!

Bryson is great, as always!

Amazingly researched, seemingly effortless, amusing musings about things I didn't know that I didn't know.

In a Different League

This is not in the same league as "A Short History of Nearly Everything". Though Bryson uses objects in different rooms of his "rectory" as jumping off points, he quickly and consistently starts his verbal meanderings and the listener is left wondering "what was the topic again"?

A lot about England's Victorian gilded age and English class, or lack thereof, and their class system. Overall the book doesn't seem very focused and we really don't learn much about the objects that populate our homes and their back story.

Still, pretty good because, hey, it's Bryson. Moderately recommended.

Much more than about the home

I wish I could remember 1/10 of what Bill Bryson teaches us in this tale. Some places are fascinatingly detailed you can't help but visualize a rich image of life in the past. Others a little too much so. Found myself skipping ahead in the illness and diseases! But enjoyed it over all. Mr Bryson reads this work masterfully.

a lot of information in a gentle and rational mode

Would you consider the audio edition of At Home to be better than the print version?

don't know. did not read book so cannot compare

Who was your favorite character and why?

no characters in that sense as this is not a novel

Any additional comments?

for anyone who likes social history this book is a must. about 1/3 of the content was already familiar to me but the rest was not and the way all the information and events were linked and contextualised made it endlessly interesting.

historical insights into the anatomy of a home.

Would you listen to At Home again? Why?

I would listen to the book again because Bill Bryson is funny as always while being very informative and quirky. A different book than the travel novels he has written but very good.

What other book might you compare At Home to and why?

I have no idea what to compare it too. It is not a novel. The closest thing would be a good history magazine with humor added.

What about Bill Bryson’s performance did you like?

I like his writing a lot because it is never dull, yet informative and enticing.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Wtf? A movie about the history of the development of the rooms of a house?

Any additional comments?

Get it.

Spectacular, interesting, researched, and treasured.

Narration by the author was an added enjoyment to an already enjoyable experience of absorbing all this book lays forth. His dry humor and non-partisan take on the development of society in its deepest intricacies. Listening to this book is an experience I will treasure - and the knowledge gleaned will make me a very interesting person to have obscure conversation with at the least appropriate times.