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发帖数: 602 | 1 Bill Bryson, (born 8 December 1951) is a best-selling American author of
humorous
books on travel, as well as books on the English language and on scientific
subjects. He was a resident of North Yorkshire, England for most of his
professional life before moving back to the US in 1995. He has lived in
Norfolk,
England since 2003.
Travel books written:
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 (1991)
Notes from a Small Island (1995) (travels in the United Kingdom, his
farewell to
the country he was temporarily leaving; adapted for television by Carlton
Television in 1998)
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1998)
Notes from a Big Country (UK) (1998?) / I'm a Stranger Here Myself (US) (
1999)
(columns about moving back to the USA)
Down Under (UK) / In a Sunburned Country (US) (2000) (travels in Australia)
Bill Bryson's African Diary (2002) (travels in Africa for CARE International
, to
whom all royalties and profits were donated)
Walk About (2002)
Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe
After 20 years as a London-based reporter, American journalist Bryson set
out to
retrace a youthful European backpacking trip, from arctic Norway's northern
lights
to romantic Capri and the "collective delirium" of Istanbul. Descriptions of
historic and artistic sights in the Continent's capitals are cursory; Bryson
prefers lesser-known locales, whose peculiar flavor he skillfully conveys in
anecdotes that don't scant the seamy side and often portray eccentric
characters
encountered during untoward adventures of the road. He enlivens the
narrative with
keen, sometimes acerbic observations of national quirks like the timed light
switches in French hallways, but tends to strive too hard for comic effects,
some
in dubious taste. He also joins other travelers in deploring the growing
hordes of
peddlers who overrun major tourist meccas....
This book which I read 12 yrs ago in Boston motivated my European conquering
journey right after I finished going over it ... The most humourous, witty,
charming and candid travelling book I have read so far...
Jim Rogers. (born October 19, 1942) is an expatriate American investor and
financial commentator based in Singapore. He was a co-founder, along with
George
Soros, of the Quantum Fund, and is a college professor, author, world
traveler,
economic commentator, and creator of the Rogers International Commodities
Index
(RICI).
Investment Biker: Around the World with Jim Rogers - 1995
Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip - 2003
Hot Commodities: How Anyone Can Invest Profitably in the World's Best Market
-
2004
A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market -
December 4,
2007
A Gift to My Children: A Father's Lessons For Life And Investing - April 28,
2009
Adventure Capitalist: The Ultimate Road Trip
Rogers, a Wall Street success story who has been called "The Indiana Jones
of
Finance," once circled the planet on a motorcycle, which landed him in The
Guinness Book of World Records and resulted in his first book, Investment
Biker
(1994). In 1999 he set out on another world-record drive around the world in
a
custom-built yellow Mercedes convertible with his fiancee, Paige Parker.
Starting
out in Iceland, the trip took three years and encompassed 116 countries,
many of
which are rarely visited, in a continuous swath across Europe, the former
Soviet
Republic, China, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. No one had ever
driven
overland following these routes, a total of 152,000 miles, another Guinness
world
record. Rogers' insightful commentary on the political and historical
topography
of these diverse countries cuts through stereotypes to give us a glimpse of
the
world the way it really is, for better or worse. This is a gutsy travelogue
adventure from a guy who shoots straight from the hip, and it really hits
the
mark.Although Rogers writes, far too briefly, of life-changing events like
getting
married and hearing of his father's death, the book has an uncommon level of
detachment. Also, even though Rogers shares investment advice and
observations
about the planet's political economies, his thoughts are too general to
serve as
business lessons. The result is an adventure tale without heart and a
finance book
without teeth. Rogers tries to make up for this by describing experiences
like
eating fried silkworms and watching prostitutes caught in the world's sex
trade.
Mainly, though, he chronicles prosaic details, like taking car ferries and
talking
to border guards, and then riffs on politics, money, immigration and culture
.
Bill and Jim are both great guys, can write in such a humouous way and bring
so
much inspiration to the readers. I have to motivate myself again, make more
money
and travel more and know more around the global.... | a*********n
发帖数: 602 | 2 Bill Bryson can write both abroad and home....
At Home: A Short History of Private Life.
"Houses aren't refuges from history. They are where history ends up."
Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of
England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the
Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew
about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home.
To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room
to room to "write a history of the world without leaving home."
The bathroom provides the occasion for a history of hygiene; the bedroom,
sex, death, and sleep; the kitchen, nutrition and the spice trade; and so on
, as Bryson shows how each has figured in the evolution of private life.
Whatever happens in the world, he demonstrates, ends up in our house, in the
paint and the pipes and the pillows and every item of furniture.
Bill Bryson has one of the liveliest, most inquisitive minds on the planet,
and he is a master at turning the seemingly isolated or mundane fact into an
occasion for the most diverting exposition imaginable. His wit and sheer
prose fluency make At Home one of the most entertaining books ever written
about private life.
http://www.randomhouse.com/features/billbryson/index.html |
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