A travel writer with little background knowledge of Africa recounts his journey to Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, where he visited slums, historic sites, natural wonders, refugee camps, and relief projects.
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104 kirjaa tekijältä Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson goes to Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, the charity dedicated to working with local communities to eradicate poverty around the world.
Originally published as The Penguin Dictionary for Writers and Editors, Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors has now been completely revised and updated for the twenty-first century by Bill Bryson himself.
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right
Bill Bryson
Crown Publishing Group (NY)
2004
nidottu
One of the English language's most skilled and beloved writers guides us all toward precise, mistake-free grammar. As usual Bill Bryson says it best: "English is a dazzlingly idiosyncratic tongue, full of quirks and irregularities that often seem willfully at odds with logic and common sense. This is a language where 'cleave' can mean to cut in half or to hold two halves together; where the simple word 'set' has 126 different meanings as a verb, 58 as a noun, and 10 as a participial adjective; where if you can run fast you are moving swiftly, but if you are stuck fast you are not moving at all; and] where 'colonel, ' 'freight, ' 'once, ' and 'ache' are strikingly at odds with their spellings." As a copy editor for the London Times in the early 1980s, Bill Bryson felt keenly the lack of an easy-to-consult, authoritative guide to avoiding the traps and snares in English, and so he brashly suggested to a publisher that he should write one. Surprisingly, the proposition was accepted, and for "a sum of money carefully gauged not to cause embarrassment or feelings of overworth," he proceeded to write that book--his first, inaugurating his stellar career. Now, a decade and a half later, revised, updated, and thoroughly (but not overly) Americanized, it has become Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, more than ever an essential guide to the wonderfully disordered thing that is the English language. With some one thousand entries, from "a, an" to "zoom," that feature real-world examples of questionable usage from an international array of publications, and with a helpful glossary and guide to pronunciation, this precise, prescriptive, and--because it is written by Bill Bryson--often witty book belongs on the desk of every person who cares enough about the language not to maul or misuse or distort it.
From one of America's most beloved and bestselling authors, a wonderfully useful and readable guide to the problems of the English language most commonly encountered by editors and writers. What is the difference between "immanent" and "imminent"? What is the singular form of graffiti? What is the difference between "acute" and "chronic"? What is the former name of "Moldova"? What is the difference between a cardinal number and an ordinal number? One of the English language's most skilled writers answers these and many other questions and guides us all toward precise, mistake-free usage. Covering spelling, capitalization, plurals, hyphens, abbreviations, and foreign names and phrases, Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors will be an indispensable companion for all who care enough about our language not to maul, misuse, or contort it. This dictionary is an essential guide to the wonderfully disordered thing that is the English language. As Bill Bryson notes, it will provide you with "the answers to all those points of written usage that you kind of know or ought to know but can't quite remember."
From bestselling author Bill Bryson comes this compelling short biography of William Shakespeare, our greatest dramatist and poet.
Bill Bryson’s biography of William Shakespeare unravels the superstitions, academic discoveries and myths surrounding the life of our greatest poet and playwright. Ever since he took the theatre of Elizabethan London by storm over 400 years ago, Shakespeare has remained centre stage. His fame stems not only from his plays – performed everywhere from school halls to the world's most illustrious theatres – but also from his enigmatic persona. His face is familiar to all, yet in reality very little is known about the man behind the masterpieces. Shakespeare’s life, despite the scrutiny of generations of biographers and scholars, is still a thicket of myths and traditions, some preposterous, some conflicting, arranged around the few scant facts known about the Bard – from his birth in Stratford to the bequest of his second best bed to his wife when he died. Taking us on a journey through the streets of Elizabethan and Jacobean England, Bryson examines centuries of stories, half-truths and downright lies surrounding our greatest dramatist. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, he introduces a host of engaging characters, as he celebrates the magic of Shakespeare's language and delights in details of the bard's life, folios, poetry and plays.
William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition arranged around scant facts. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, Bill Bryson sorts through this colorful muddle to reveal the man himself.Bryson documents the efforts of earlier scholars, from today's most respected academics to eccentrics like Delia Bacon, an American who developed a firm but unsubstantiated conviction that her namesake, Francis Bacon, was the true author of Shakespeare's plays. Emulating the style of his famous travelogues, Bryson records episodes in his research, including a visit to a basement room in Washington, D.C., where the world's largest collection of First Folios is housed. Bryson celebrates Shakespeare as a writer of unimaginable talent and enormous inventiveness. His Shakespeare is like no one else's-the beneficiary of Bryson's genial nature, his engaging skepticism, and a gift for storytelling unrivalled in our time.
William Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition arranged around scant facts. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, Bill Bryson sorts through this colorful muddle to reveal the man himself. His Shakespeare is like no one else's the beneficiary of Bryson's genial nature, his engaging skepticism, and a gift for storytelling unrivaled in our time."
Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society
Bill Bryson
Mariner Books
2011
nidottu
"Bill Bryson is as amusing as ever. ... As a celebration of 350 years of modern science, Seeing Further is a worthy tribute." --The EconomistJoin Bill Bryson on an unforgettable exploration of scientific genius, discovery, and invention. Edited and introduced by Bryson, with original contributions from "a glittering array of scientific writing talent" (Sunday Observer) including Margaret Atwood, Richard Dawkins, and Neal Stephenson, Seeing Further tells the spectacular story of modern science through the lens of the international Royal Society, founded on a damp November night in London in 1660. Isaac Newton, John Locke, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking--all have been fellows. Its members have split the atom, discovered the double helix and the electron, and given us the computer and the World Wide Web. Gorgeously illustrated with photographs, documents, and treasures from the Society's exclusive archives, Seeing Further is an unprecedented celebration of the power of ideas.Featuring contributions from more than twenty of the world's greatest scientific--and science-fiction--thinkers, including: Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gene; The God Delusion), James Gleick (The Information), Neal Stephenson (Cryptonomicon), Richard Holmes (The Age of Wonder), Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale), and Martin Rees (former President of the Royal Society).
Bill Bryson's bestselling biography of William Shakespeare takes the reader on an enthralling tour through Elizabethan England and the eccentricities of Shakespearean scholarship--updated with a new introduction by the author to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's deathWilliam Shakespeare, the most celebrated poet in the English language, left behind nearly a million words of text, but his biography has long been a thicket of wild supposition arranged around scant facts. With a steady hand and his trademark wit, Bill Bryson sorts through this colorful muddle to reveal the man himself. His Shakespeare is like no one else's--the beneficiary of Bryson's genial nature, his engaging skepticism, and a gift for storytelling unrivaled in our time.
'More than 300 million people in the world speak English and the rest, it sometimes seems, try to...'Only Bill Bryson could make a book about the English language so entertaining. With his boundless enthusiasm and restless eye for the absurd, this is his astonishing tour of English. From its mongrel origins to its status as the world's most-spoken tongue; its apparent simplicity to its deceptive complexity; its vibrant swearing to its uncertain spelling and pronunciation, Bryson covers all this as well as the many curious eccentricities that make it as maddening to learn as it is flexible to use. Bill Bryson's classic Mother Tongue is a highly readable and hilarious tale of how English came to be the world's language.
What is the difference between mean and median, blatant and flagrant, flout and flaunt? Is it whodunnit or whodunit? Do you know? Are you sure?With Troublesome Words, journalist and bestselling travel-writer Bill Bryson gives us a clear, concise and entertaining guide to the problems of English usage and spelling that has been an indispensable companion to those who work with the written word for over twenty years. So if you want to discover whether you should care about split infinitives, are cursed with an uncontrollable outbreak of commas or were wondering if that newsreader was right to say 'an historic day', this superb book is the place to find out.
Perfect for ages 8 to 80!Adapted from A Short History of Nearly Everything, this stunningly illustrated book from Bill Bryson takes us from the Big Bang to the dawn of science, and everything in between! Ever wondered how we got from nothing to something?Or thought about how we can weigh the earth?Or wanted to reach the edge of the universe?Uncover the mysteries of time, space and life on earth in this extraordinary book - a journey from the centre of the planet, to the dawn of the dinosaurs, and everything in between. And discover our own incredible journey, from single cell to civilisation, including the brilliant (and sometimes very bizarre) scientists who helped us find out the how and why.The ideal book for curious young readers everywhere. ************************************************************************Reviews for A Short History of Nearly Everything:'It's the sort of book I would have devoured as a teenager. It might well turn unsuspecting young readers into scientists.' Evening Standard'I doubt that a better book for the layman about the findings of modern science has been written' Sunday Telegraph 'A thoroughly enjoyable, as well as educational, experience. Nobody who reads it will ever look at the world around them in the same way again' Daily Express 'The very book I have been looking for most of my life' Daily Mail
'A sure-fire winner . . . sparkles with interest and excitement throughout' - Guardian Best Children's Books of 2023You’ll spend your WHOLE LIFE in your body. So it’s only fair you know how it works, right?This book will teach you EVERYTHING you need to know about the machine that is YOU. From your astonishing brain to your hard-working heart.Get ready for the BIG questions, like:How many muscles do you move playing Fortnight? (A twitch of a thumb on the controller uses TEN muscles)Are chillis actually HOT? (Short answer: no. We’ve been fooled by a plant.)How far can we sneeze? (Your sneeze droplets can reach up to eight meters – which means you could sneeze over an entire class.)You’ll also meet people like Chevalier Jackson, who collected things that people had swallowed by accident (for science, of course). And learn about why we poo (and why it smells).Packed with facts, history and humour, this beautifully illustrated book, from global bestselling science and history author Bill Bryson (ask your mum, he’s the one with the beard), will help you understand the secrets to our bodies and brains.'Offers children a series of fascinating scientific facts' - Daily Telegraph
Adapted from Mother Tongue this stunningly illustrated book by Bill Bryson tells the story of English, from the first words ever spoken to the very first dictionaries.Perfect for ages 8 to 80!Every day, you do something incredible, and I bet you barely ever think about it: you speak. But have you ever wondered why the English language turned out like it did?If so, this is the book for you. It will also answer some VERY important questions . . .? Why do we have the Vikings to thank for words like glitter and sky?? Why did goodbye used to be god be with you?? Why did LOL originally mean little old ladies?? And why did no one know what majestic meant until Shakespeare came along?In this epic journey through words, rhymes - and even a few jokes - Bill Bryson will teach you how the English language came to be (clue: lots of invasions) and what makes it a rich and beautiful thing (lots of Shakespeare).Get ready . . . because the story of the English language is an EXTRAORDINARY one.
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
Bill Bryson
VINTAGE
2006
pokkari
The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America-majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you're going to take a hike, it's probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaining guide you'll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way-and a couple of bears. Already a classic, A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in).