Bryson, Bill One Summer: America, 1927 ISBN 13: 9780375434327

One Summer: America, 1927 - Softcover

9780375434327: One Summer: America, 1927
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
A Chicago Tribune Noteworthy Book
A GoodReads Reader's Choice

In One Summer Bill Bryson, one of our greatest and most beloved nonfiction writers, transports readers on a journey back to one amazing season in American life.

The summer of 1927 began with one of the signature events of the twentieth century: on May 21, 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first man to cross the Atlantic by plane nonstop, and when he landed in Le Bourget airfield near Paris, he ignited an explosion of worldwide rapture and instantly became the most famous person on the planet. Meanwhile, the titanically talented Babe Ruth was beginning his assault on the home run record, which would culminate on September 30 with his sixtieth blast, one of the most resonant and durable records in sports history. In between those dates a Queens housewife named Ruth Snyder and her corset-salesman lover garroted her husband, leading to a murder trial that became a huge tabloid sensation. Alvin "Shipwreck" Kelly sat atop a flagpole in Newark, New Jersey, for twelve days--a new record. The American South was clobbered by unprecedented rain and by flooding of the Mississippi basin, a great human disaster, the relief efforts for which were guided by the uncannily able and insufferably pompous Herbert Hoover. Calvin Coolidge interrupted an already leisurely presidency for an even more relaxing three-month vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The gangster Al Capone tightened his grip on the illegal booze business through a gaudy and murderous reign of terror and municipal corruption. The first true "talking picture," Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer, was filmed and forever changed the motion picture industry. The four most powerful central bankers on earth met in secret session on a Long Island estate and made a fateful decision that virtually guaranteed a future crash and depression.
All this and much, much more transpired in that epochal summer of 1927, and Bill Bryson captures its outsized personalities, exciting events, and occasional just plain weirdness with his trademark vividness, eye for telling detail, and delicious humor. In that year America stepped out onto the world stage as the main event, and One Summer transforms it all into narrative nonfiction of the highest order.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
"Bryson writes in a style as effervescent as the time itself... A wonderful romp."
--The New York Times

"...A skillful lesson on the dynamics and personalities that shaped today's America and on how far the country has evolved from a gaudy era fondly but imperfectly recalled."
--Wall Street Journal

"There are two kinds of readers: those who love Bill Bryson and those who haven't met him yet... Colorful, rollicking and sweet, this is Bryson being Bryson. Which is to say: marvelous."
--People

"A glorious look at one summer in America...Bryson offers delicious detail and breathtaking suspense about events whose outcomes are already known."
--Booklist, Starred Review

"This splendid book, written in the breezy and humorous style that has come to be Bryson's trademark, is sure to delight readers steeped in the history of the period as well as those looking to acquaint themselves with it for the first time."
--The Associated Press

"Bryson will set you right in this canter through one summer of one year that--once you've turned the final page--will seem more critical to American history than you might have reckoned before... [He] is a master of the sidelong, a man who can turn obscurity into hilarity with seemingly effortless charm--and One Summer is an entertaining addition to a body of work that is at its best when it celebrates the unexpected and the obscure... This is a jolly jalopy ride of a book; Bryson runs down the byways of American history and finds diversion in every roadside stop."
--Financial Times

"...Bryson himself is captivated by the events of summer, 1927. And why not? They included Charles Lindbergh's solo flight over the Atlantic, Sacco and Vanzetti's execution, Gutzon Borglum's start on the sculpting of Mt. Rushmore, the Dempsey-Carpentier fight, and Babe Ruth's 60 home runs--all of which Bryson covers in characteristically sparkling prose."
--Publishers Weekly

"As a historian, Bryson is the antithesis of stuffy. He's a storyteller, pure and simple, and One Summer is a collection of a great many tales about people and events, centered on (but not limited to) a single season in a single year... Bryson could have written a book just as interesting about the summer of 1949 or 1913. That's because his subject isn't really a year. It's human nature in all its odd and amazing array."
--Chicago Tribune

"The book's strength is in showing the overlap of significant events and the interaction of personalities."
--Library Journal

"What comes across clearest in Bryson's lucid, lighthearted narrative is the pure energy and crazed optimism of the era. Sure, the rollicking party would end, but it was fun while it lasted--as is Bryson's One Summer."
--Minneapolis Star-Tribune

"...One Summer wins you over by the sheer weigh tof its encyclopedic enthusiasms."
--The Telegraph

"Bryson is a marvelous historian, not only exhaustively accurate, but highly entertaining. If you avoid textbook histories because they seem too dry, pick up One Summer, or any other of Mr. Bryson's books. They are intelligent delights."
--Liz Smith, The Huffington Post

"Highly recommend One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson--interesting, entertaining visit to an incredible year."
--John McCain
Book Description:
Let Bill Bryson take you back to a forgotten summer when America came of age and changed the world for ever – and show you why he is our favourite writer of narrative non-fiction.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780767919418: One Summer: America, 1927

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780767919418
Publisher: Anchor Books, 2014
Softcover

  • 9780552772563: One Summer: America 1927 (Bryson, 2)

    Black ..., 2014
    Softcover

  • 9780767919401: One Summer: America, 1927

    Doubleday, 2013
    Hardcover

  • 9780385608282: One Summer: America 1927

    Doubleday, 2013
    Hardcover

  • 9780552779401: One Summer: America 1927 (Bryson)

    Black ..., 2014
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Bryson, Bill
Published by Random House Large Print (2013)
ISBN 10: 0375434321 ISBN 13: 9780375434327
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_0375434321

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 18.58
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.17
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Bryson, Bill
Published by Random House Large Print (2013)
ISBN 10: 0375434321 ISBN 13: 9780375434327
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard0375434321

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 21.90
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 2.77
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Bryson, Bill
Published by Random House Large Print (2013)
ISBN 10: 0375434321 ISBN 13: 9780375434327
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think0375434321

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 22.74
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.37
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Bryson, Bill
Published by Random House Large Print (2013)
ISBN 10: 0375434321 ISBN 13: 9780375434327
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover0375434321

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 24
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.41
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Bryson, Bill
Published by Random House Large Print (2013)
ISBN 10: 0375434321 ISBN 13: 9780375434327
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 1.75. Seller Inventory # Q-0375434321

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 50.86
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 4.30
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Bryson, Bill
Published by Random House Large Print (2013)
ISBN 10: 0375434321 ISBN 13: 9780375434327
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Books Unplugged
(Amherst, NY, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition. Seller Inventory # bk0375434321xvz189zvxnew

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 55.26
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Bryson, Bill
Published by Random House Large Print (2013)
ISBN 10: 0375434321 ISBN 13: 9780375434327
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0375434321-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 55.26
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Bryson, Bill
Published by Random House Large Print (2013)
ISBN 10: 0375434321 ISBN 13: 9780375434327
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Pieuler Store
(Suffolk, United Kingdom)

Book Description Condition: new. Large type / Large print. Book is in NEW condition. Satisfaction Guaranteed! Fast Customer Service!!. Seller Inventory # PSN0375434321

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 55.08
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 24.99
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds