Book Commentary: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid

I recently finished reading Bill Bryson’s, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. I don’t often read memoirs, and I especially didn’t see what would be so interesting about a white guy who grew up in Des Moines, IA. But…since Bill Bryson grew up down the street from a friend of mine (although he is our parents’ age) and since he mentions said friend’s Aunt in this story, I thought I would give it a try. Boy was I wrong! I haven’t read something this funny in years. I was reading it on a plane, stuck between two men and I was laughing so hard about one scene where Bill’s mom makes him wear his sister’s pants, that I thought I was going to pee mine. I was trying to be quiet, which caused me to laugh even harder. When they asked me what was wrong, my body started convulsing in laughter. I had tears running down my face and if I had been drinking milk, it would have shot through my nose. –That Funny- So funny, that I couldn’t even explain it to them. I could only point at the book and laugh harder, which caused me to cry more and shake more which caused me to laugh more… you get the drift. This cycle of hilarity caused them to laugh and proclaim that they too would now begin reading, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. Like Bryson, I am also from Iowa and I have to say that even though it was written by an older man, through the laughter-induced tears, I was able to identify with and pick up on his poignant message about Midwestern values, treating people with kindness and respect and learning how to survive in chartreuse Capri pants when you really wanted to wear jeans and kicks.

(Bryson, Bill. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. New York: Broadway, 2006. Print.)

Welcome!

When’s the last time you wrote for fun, to express your emotions or simply to try and create something? As a graduate student and student teacher I can tell you that it has been a long time since I’ve written creatively. Now, its lesson plans and reflections. But first it was research, evidence, research and more evidence. And even before that, I wrote memos, training documents and emails. Writing to express creativity or to release emotions be they happy or sad hasn’t been on my radar in some time. And, fun… writing for fun!? I have a new perspective on writing for fun... Let’s just say I have never written for fun…until now. And, I can thank Ms. Shimon’s 7^th period English class for making writing fun.

Through my student teaching with this class, we have been asked to create a blog… So, I can’t promise you that this the best writing you have ever seen but I can promise you that I enjoyed writing it. And, I hope you enjoy reading it.