Made in America

by Bill Bryson (Author), Bill Bryson (Author), Bruce Mccall (Illustrator)

• Used

  Paperback
  1995

  $3.25

  Travel writer Bill Bryson looks at the language of America and explains the history behind it, including the origins of phrases such as The real McCoy and the G-string ; why two humble bicycle repairmen from Ohio succeeded in mastering manned flight when the world's greatest engineers couldn't get a model aircraft off the ground; why the assassination of President Garfield led to the invention of air conditioning; and how a lonesome hamburger stand at the end of Route 66 provided the inspiration for McDonald's .

• Used

  Paperback
  1998

  $3.25

  Bill Bryson turns away from the highways and byways of middle America, so hilariously depicted in his bestselling The Lost Continent, for a fast, exhilarating ride along the Route 66 of American language and popular culture. In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land - explaining how a dusty desert 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. Buy this book at once and have a nice day!

• Used

  Hardcover
  1997

  $3.25