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The Body
- A Guide for Occupants
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Categories: Science & Engineering, Science
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Behind the scenes
Watch our exclusive interview with the best-selling author as he reveals the inspiration behind The Body.Editor reviews
“Between the mysterious, the unexpected, the unknown and the undiscovered The Body: A Guide for Occupants takes us through all the weird and wonderful parts of the human body with humour, historical anecdotes and some truly jaw-dropping facts. Somehow, with all that jam packed in, listening to it still feels like an entertaining coffee with an old friend. I have loved many of Bill Bryson’s books but I think this one may have just jostled its way to the top of my list of favourites. Definitely take a listen if you’ve ever wondered why or how your body does what it does, or, if not, take a listen for the multitude of amazing facts you can pull out at your next awkward dinner party.” (Alex, Audible Editor)
“In this illuminating history of the human form, Bill Bryson presents scientific research in an accessible way, introducing a host of individuals including the world’s first kidney transplant recipient and the Nobel Prize-winning Peter Medawar. Covering everything from sleep to immunity, I came away from listening to the audiobook with a newfound appreciation and respect for my body. A perfect listen for new and existing Bill Bryson fans alike.” (Jess, Audible Editor)
The life and times of Bill Bryson
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951, Bill Bryson now resides in the UK. His best-selling, wry-humoured books cover travel, the English language, history and popular science.
In 1972, longing to experience the wider world, Bryson left his home state and toured Europe, delighting in its strangeness. Returning the following year, he took a job at a psychiatric hospital before embarking on a career in journalism. His first published book, The Lost Continent (1989), recounts a tour of America, though he’s claimed this wasn’t a travel book. “It was more sociological” he says. “I was looking at this country that I’d grown up in and seeing how it had changed – and how I had changed.”
Summary
'We spend our whole lives in one body and yet most of us have practically no idea how it works and what goes on inside it. The idea of the book is simply to try to understand the extraordinary contraption that is us.’
In the best-selling, prize-winning A Short History of Nearly Everything Bill Bryson achieved the seemingly impossible by making the science of our world both understandable and entertaining to millions of people around the globe.
Now he turns his attention inwards to explore the human body, how it functions and its remarkable ability to heal itself. Full of extraordinary facts and astonishing stories, The Body: A Guide for Occupants is a brilliant, often very funny attempt to understand the miracle of our physical and neurological makeup.
What listeners say about The Body
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark D
- 28-10-19
Great book, let down somewhat by the narration
This was my first time listening to a Bill Bryson book and whilst the story had all the ingrediants I enjoy about his work, the narration made it difficult to fully appreciate. The author has a very soft voice without huge range and as such, I often found myself having to rewind and turn the volume up high to hear what had just been said. It didn't stop me enjoying the material, but it definitely sent me back to the kindle version for large sections. I'll continue to invest in Bill's books - but I don't think i would choose another audio book where the author has narrated the work himself.
36 people found this helpful
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- Bammosan
- 13-10-19
Bill Bryson at his best.
This is Bill at his best, full of wonder and the ability to put across scientific information in a sometimes humorous but concerned and hopeful way,
His audiobooks are always enhanced when he reads them himself, this is no exception. You can listen to an abridged version on BBC Sounds radio 4, but I encourage you to get the full version it will become a go to textbook for healthcare personnel and members of the public and educational establishments.
27 people found this helpful
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- Roger Boyle
- 16-10-19
Excellent starter in Anatomy, Physiology and Bioch
I've been a doctor for over 30 years and enjoyed the book immensely.
Loved the stories about the famous, ( and less famous) characters in medicine and the amazing complexity of our bodies and disease
An interesting overview of over investigation( particularly in USA) and Health Outcomes ( US & UK excellent examples)
I found the pronunciation of some words slightly jarring to UK ears, but perhaps I've said it wrong for nearly 4 decades!!!
36 people found this helpful
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- Rupert Maddison-Roberts
- 12-10-19
Hard listening
Shame he didn’t pay William Roberts to read it as with his other books. Bought it on the strength of his previous work but he’s narrated it himself and he’s no professional narrator- disappointing
36 people found this helpful
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- M. Woods
- 09-10-19
Sending me to sleep
I love Bill Bryson's books - but he should have got a professional actor/reader to narrate this. Bill's soft monotone keeps sending me to sleep. Given it three goes of the first two chapters, but just can't listen anymore. I'm going to have to return this audio and maybe get a print copy.
52 people found this helpful
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- Richard Carpenter
- 22-11-19
The Body
Having read or listened to all of Bill’s books, I’m sorry you say this is a great disappointment!
It should be called - the science or biology world.
There are occasional dips into the body, but Mr Bryson drifts off to where he is comfortable far too often. The research and references world.
5 people found this helpful
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- Avril
- 09-10-19
An early review.Do not start this book at bedtime!
I always fall upon Bill Bryson books as soon as they are published. This one is utterly enthralling from the first word. Read by Bill Bryson himself (what a lovely voice) the narrative kept me awake and thoroughly engaged until I was forced by tiredness to pause it at 4am. If I wasn’t so busy I’d be listening again now., my head is bursting with very interesting facts about the mysterious and wondrous human body,and I’m sure I will reread many times in future.
23 people found this helpful
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- texaspetey
- 10-10-19
Sends me into a sleep slumber whilst educating
Don’t know what it is but there is something very soothing about Bill Bryson’s voice that is just perfect to listen to before sleep. I set my timer for 30 mins and more often then not I’m asleep by 20 minutes. I repeat the books to make sure I listen to the whole book and cover the bits I drifted off to!
20 people found this helpful
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- Stephen M.
- 24-12-19
Disappointing
I love Bill Bryson books.I've read or listened to all of them. His normally witty storyline interspersed with funny anecdotes and facts around the timeline are missing here. This feels like a review of a medical textbook, lacking in an sense of enthusiasm by the author. He is not a narrator and doesn't have a voice for audible. I actually found him hard to listen to in the first few chapters and by the time I'd got used to his tone and pace the book was finished. I'd skip this one
4 people found this helpful
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- Greg H
- 11-11-19
Is this really you Bill?
I love Bill Bryson but The Body was largely very dull and lacked the usual humour were used to.
3 people found this helpful
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- Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason
- 07-10-19
Average, really needs a professional narrator,
It's great when certain authors narrate their own works, as you can really feel their enthusiasm for the subject, but boy is this not one of those cases. Bryson manages to sound monotone, unexcited and borderline out of breath throughout.
I've read many of Bryson's earlier books, this is the third one of his that I've read with a scientific theme read after "A Short History..." and "At Home". He's still not quite capturing what made "A Short History..." great. This book's a mixture of scientific fact, anecdotes and personal observations.
Sometimes there's a great mix of those, but more often than not the science suffers because too much time is taken on some personal observation or anecdote that that isn't all that interesting, or some other mixture of the three.
Finally, for a book that's partly trying to explain a technical subject it contains an infuriating mismatch of differing systems of units of measure. Sometimes Bryson will refer to length in feet, or meters, or weight in kilos, pounds or stones, he might provide conversions, or he might not. Unless you're comfortable in metric, imperial and the UK's various quaint units of measure you'll find yourself pausing to do the conversions yourself.
12 people found this helpful
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- Alberto Simal
- 09-11-19
Sounds tired
Maybe it's me, maybe it's the fact that so much of the information was not new to me, but the book failed to engage me and surprise me like his "A short Story...". He sounded tired, less enthusiastic. It's a good book, nonetheless.
2 people found this helpful
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- Rev. James Fowler
- 24-04-20
Very Thoroughly Researched and Entertaining
This book is entertaining and thoroughly researched. The explanations of the facts, however, were very biased towards Evolution Theory.
1 person found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 13-12-20
Insightful and educational
Great content from the writer that brings us insightful en entertaining content every few years.
Great to learn about everyday thibgs while being intrigued at the same time.
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- kieron t.
- 28-08-20
Bryson Magic
Another meticulously researched book for anyone who wants to know everything about their body and life. From trauma to disease, with remarkably strange history all narrated with Bryson's characteristic dry wit.
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- klimty
- 13-07-20
Bad Narration
I think Mr. Bryson should have a professional narrator to re-read this book. His narration is flat, monotone, the voice sounds untrained, it really killed the audiobook for me, like someone boring is discussing even more boring stuff. That Mid-Atlantic accent of Mr. Bryson (neither American nor British) is irritating…Regardless of how many times I tried to finish the book, I couldn't…all due to the bad narration.
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- Thandi Lamprecht
- 18-06-20
It grows on you.
I have mixed feelings about this book - so much so that I actually returned it but now want to purchase it again. I found the first 1/4 very boring and kept falling asleep when I tried to listen to it at night. I then returned the book. Because I felt it wasn’t worth the credit. When I was having trouble sleeping a couple of weeks after I’d returned it, I thought I’d listen to it again (since it had worked so well as a sleep aid before..) but about 1/2 way in I was hooked. It’s a fascinating book and it gets better and better as it goes on. The last 1/4 is the best. My recommendation therefore is to buy this book and just be patient, it will grown on you. Enjoy!