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

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.

Bill Bryson has done it again!

If you could sum up One Summer in three words, what would they be?

Enlightening, engaging, great read

What other book might you compare One Summer to and why?

Any other Bryson book

Any additional comments?

I am a big fan of Bill Bryson, he is the best storyteller in modern times, and can make any topic interesting - From Shakespeare to Australia, and has done it again with this book, highlighting a forgotten era which had some tremendous turning points which affect the way we live and think today. More please!

Another fascinating foray with Bill Bryson

What made the experience of listening to One Summer the most enjoyable?

The content of the book; Bryson is such a wordsmith, and I love how he weaves all the events of the summer together with interesting, odd, even weird, details. I could clearly see my grandparents sitting in their parlor, listening to the radio, reading the newspaper, and discussing these events.

Who was your favorite character and why?

In reverse, my least favorite characters were Hoover, Lindbergh, and Henry Ford. They don't come off as very pleasant people, but I really enjoyed reading (hearing) about their idiosyncrasies.

What three words best describe Bill Bryson’s voice?

Warm, pleasant, humorous. I hate to say it, but I was a bit disappointed with the narration of this one, though. It seemed full of unnatural hesitations and pauses.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was moved by how innocent America was in 1927. Even after the horrors of WWI, it seems like we were just on the cusp of worldliness. My mother was born in the spring of 1927, so it was great fun for me to imagine my grandparents, young and happy with a new baby girl, reacting to the events of that summer.

Any additional comments?

This is a wonderful book, make no mistake about that. The cadence of the narration just seemed slightly self-conscious. There were parts where Bryson apparently forgot he was narrating and just told the story naturally, and those were the parts I enjoyed most. I will still eagerly anticipate future audiobooks written and narrated by this author.