Book a Week 2012 #3

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

It's difficult for me to sum up this book. Basically, Bryson looks at the history of each room in the home. How it came about, what was done in the room, etc. Surprisingly, it is oddly and extremely fascinating. He reminds me of a history teacher than has a knack for bringing history alive. I apologize for not being more specific, but the book's topic was so wide it's hard for me to nail anything down. Everything from mousetraps to wallpaper to architecture - British and American - it's just all over the place in a wonderful, trivial sort of way. Sometimes the topics tend to jump around a bit and the flow isn't great, but it's good nonetheless. And pardon me for saying, but I think it would make a great bathroom-reading book.

A little side note for those following the Moby-Dick challenge. At one point in the book Bryson comments that a book called The Whale was a colossal flop in England, despite books about the natural world being all the rage. It was renamed and released in the US as Moby-Dick, where it was also a colossal flop. I got a chuckle out of that and am now reconsidering the challenge (even though I have started Ahab's Wife and am enjoying it).