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While I typically prefer fiction, I could not put this book down. Bryson takes us through his childhood growing up in the Midwest during the 50’s. He did an amazing job of channeling the child/boy he was. It was a more innocent time, shown through the eyes of a child. As the Memoir (yeah I know dirty word these days) progresses, Bryson is able to parallel his own loss of innocence with that of the times. While I was born in the East some 20 years later, the world he recreated reminded me very much of my own early childhood. In many ways the 70’s were the dying embers of the 50’s. I remember with vivid detail my first crush and my curiosity/obsession with the opposite sex. TV before cable with it’s morning/late night test patterns, constant stream of old re-runs, limited selection and far less sophisticated content – it was an all together different medium. Parents still thought it was safe for kids play outside. Globalization had yet to flatten the earth. Most nightmares were still on the news, not your backyard. Even DC was safe as long as you stayed out of South East. It was a wonderful reminder of my early childhood; I hope I can provide even a fraction of that for my own children.
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