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Made in America

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Made in America

By: Bill Bryson
Narrated by: William Roberts
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About this listen

Featuring a special introduction written for the audiobook edition and read by the author

In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land, explaining how a dusty hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up, as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question, and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.

©1994 Bill Bryson (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Americas Linguistics Social Sciences Travel Writing & Commentary United States Funny Witty Thought-Provoking Suspenseful Imperialism Latin American United Kingdom American History British Empire Old West Wild West

Critic reviews

"Bryson offers a playfully anecdotal account of the etymology of distinctive words and phrases that help to create a distinctly American English." ( Publishers Weekly)
"A treat....Filled with surprises....A literate exploration of why we use, or mangle, our native tongue." ( USA Today)
All stars
Most relevant
I enjoyed this book but it was very annoying in places with constant lists of words but even more tedious was listening to lists of individual words being spelt out. The facts in the book were vaguely interesting but not so interesting that you would bother relaying the fact to anyone else or bringing it up in conversation. Overall a bland book, wellr esearched but not a page turner.

One of the poorer Bryson books

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Bill Bryson is a first-rate story teller, bringing history to life with rich insights and perspective. Also, it should be noted that William Roberts's narration is so good that you don't notice it's there and I say that as the highest compliment.

First Rate

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As usual, another excellent listen. Very amusing. Told as only Bill Bryson can.
Excellent performance by the narrator.
Would recommend.

Once again. A brilliant Bill Bryson book.

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Excellent book backed up by a tremendous performance by William Roberts. Thought provoking dive into etymology of American English.

I really enjoyed this

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What did you like most about Made in America?

I tend to have several books on the go at once - fiction alongside non-fiction. So this was useful as I could dip into the book and pause between passages.
This is a surprisingly easy listen given the subject matter of 'words' and phrases made in America. Interesting and informative - but obviously not useful as a quick reference - so treat it accordingly.
However - whilst I do not like 'abridged' version of books - there is something to recommend 'adapted' for audio - there are occasional passages where the book and audio consists of seemingly endless lists - which work well on paper but not on audio - especially when they are also spelled out.

M.a.d.e i.n A.m.e.r.i.c.a

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