Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Read-Alikes
Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He moved to England, where he worked for The Times and The Independent, and wrote for many major British and American publications.
Bill Bryson's bestselling books include A Walk in the Woods, Notes From a Small Island, In a Sunburned Country, Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, A Short of History of Nearly Everything, which earned him the 2004 Aventis Prize, and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. He was chancellor of Durham University, England's third oldest university, from 2005 to 2011, and is an honorary fellow of Britain's Royal Society. Bryson lives in England with his wife and children.
Bill Bryson's website
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Is hiking something you've always enjoyed doing?
Yes, though I've never done it in the States, and it's a completely different
experience here because of the scale of everything. If you go out on the
Appalachian Trail you have to bring so much more equipment--a tent, sleeping
bag--but if you go hiking in England, or Europe, generally, towns and villages
are near enough together at the end of the day you can always go to a nice
little inn and have a hot bath and something to drink. It's a much more rigorous
activity here.
Is there a difference between the culture of hikers here and in Europe?
Well, that's a good question. Essentially they're the same: people who like to
go out and walk up hills and go through that sort of vigorous exercise.
What made you choose Katz as your companion? It would seem to be
impossible to pick a more ill-suited hiking partner.
(Laughs) It was really a question of Katz choosing me. I quite genuinely didn't
want to go out there on my own, I would have been grateful for any kind of
companionship. I was just sort of wildly inexperienced at this sort of hiking. I
had never camped outside before, never pitched a tent. So I was grateful to have...
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