Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson (born December 8,1951) is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on scientific subjects. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he was educated at Drake University but dropped out in August 1973 while on vacation in England. Bryson then began working in a psychiatric hospital in Virginia Water, Surrey. Here he met his English wife, a hospital nurse, and they settled in England in 1977, remaining there until 1995. Living in North Yorkshire and mainly working as a journalist, he eventually became chief copy editor of the business section of The Times and then deputy national news editor of the business section of The Independent. He left journalism in 1987. Bryson returned to live in the United States in 1995, residing in Hanover, New Hampshire for some years. In 2003, however, Bryson and his family returned to England, (the town of Wymondham in the county of Norfolk) where they now live once again.

Bibliography

Books on travel

• The Palace Under the Alps and Over 200 Other Unusual, Unspoiled, and Infrequently Visited Spots in 16 European Countries (1985)
• The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989)
• Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (1993)
• Notes from a Small Island (1995) (travels in the United Kingdom, adapted for television by Carlton Television in 1998)
• A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1997)
• I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away (US Edition) / Notes From a Big Country (UK Edition) (1998, columns about moving back to the USA)
• In a Sunburned Country (US edition) / Down Under (UK edition) (2000, travels in Australia)
• Bill Bryson's African Diary (2002, travels in Africa)

Books on language

• ' (1989)
• ' (1994)
• Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (2002)

Books on science

• A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)