One Summer

America, 1927

By: Bill Bryson

Narrated by: Bill Bryson

Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, History, 2014

One of the most admired nonfiction writers of our time retells the story of one truly fabulous year in the life of his native country - a fascinating and gripping narrative featuring such outsized American heroes as Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth, and yes Herbert Hoover, and a gallery of criminals (Al Capone), eccentrics (Shipwreck Kelly), and close-mouthed politicians (Calvin Coolidge). It was the year Americans attempted and accomplished outsized things and came of age in a big, brawling manner. What a country. What a summer. And what a writer to bring it all so vividly alive for us in this certain best-seller.

©2013 Bill Bryson (P)2013 Random House Audio

One Magic Summer

I love Bill Bryson and especially love when he is the narrator of his audiobooks. This one is an incredible portrait of America before the Great Depression. A lot happened in our country during that time and particularly in the world of professional baseball which I love. He weaves it all into a story that will fascinate, amuse and delight as well as break your heart.

A fascinating look at people and events of 1927.

This chronicle of a remarkable summer is seen through the lens of a talented and amusing story teller. The tangents don't detract from the story but detail and color that make the headlines of the day all the more vivid.

Another Great Book by Bryson

I didn't realize how many things happened in that one fateful summer. Excellent narration.

An interesting perspective on our history

This is a very detailed and fascinating look at a brief period in our time when, it seems, everything was changing.

If only Bryson had been my history teacher...

Any additional comments?

If Bill Bryson wrote history textbooks, my knowledge on the topic would likely be improved ten-fold. He’s such a great storyteller, he’s able to suss out the interesting details that make people, places and times come to life.

In One Summer, he specifically focuses on the events of 1927, though - in honesty - it seems like that’s kind of an excuse for him to write about whatever he found interesting in the first quarter of the century, since he often backtracks to provide back-story leading up to the events of 1927. Regardless, it’s a great ride. One of the reviews I read criticized the book for being disjointed because Bryson hops from topic to topic without a clear plan. That might bother some people, but I didn’t find it distracting.

This book touches on:


* Babe Ruth
* Lou Gerhig
* Charles Lindbergh
* Aviation
* Henry Ford (in general, but also the Model T, the Model A and - most interestingly - Fordlandia)
* The mafia (specifically Chicago and Al Capone)
* Prohibition
* Hollywood

Classic Bryson storytelling

I really enjoy Bill Bryson and this book did not disappoint. Full of all the complex, technicolor characters that bring the period to life in a way that most history books can't.

Maybe His Best

I never would have thought that a book based mainly in one summer could captivate and produce such a good novel. It is pretty amazing to learn about that impactful summer, and Bryson does a great job threading it all together. Would recommend this to anyone who like US history and often wonders of how life was in a time not too long ago. It is time that is just out of reach to touch the present (meaning the people and technology are gone) but not out of mind.

A fascinating window of time!

The events during the summer of 1927, with plenty of context, are indeed quite remarkable! Bryson provides a comprehensive description of the familiar (Lindbergh flies across the Pacific, Babe Ruth has a record-breaking year, Hollywood changes course with talking pictures, etc) and forgotten (Lindbergh's exhausting victory tour across the Americas afterwards, a horrifying bombing of a school, cataclysmic flooding of the Mississippi, early displays of television technology, and so on).

While it's nice to hear the actual author's voice, he does have the untrained speaker's habit of running out of air as he speaks -- making the ends of sentences fade out, which can get buried by the noise floor of my car in motion.

Another Terrific Bill Bryson Book

Insightful, comedic, and thought provoking. Mr.Bryson really has a way with framing stories and perspectives. This book was all together engrossing and I could not put it down.

Woops he did it again.

Yet another great book by a great author. Is there anything this guy cannot write about. I loved his travel books, his book about a history of everything and even the book about our homes. I was fearful of a failure but once again Bryson brought to life an immensly compelling story. This guy could write a dictionary and I would love it.... Oh yeah, he did and it was great reading believe it or not. Even the book on Shakespere was excellent. Good job Bill, only start cranking em out faster. :)