Somebody had to.In this deeply funny new book, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, in the curious world of 1950s America. It was a happy time, when almost everything was good for you, including DDT, cigarettes and nuclear fallout.

Bill Bryson's first travel book opened with the immortal line,I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.' In this deeply funny new book, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, in the curious world of 1950s America. It was a happy time, when almost everything was good for you, including DDT, cigarettes and nuclear fallout.

This is a book about one boy's growing up. But in Bryson's hands, it becomes everyone's stoW, one that will speak volumes-especially to anyone who has ever been young.

Preface and Acknowledgements

1 Hometown

2 Welcome to Kid World

3 Birth of a Superhero

4 The Age of Excitement

5 The Pursuit of Pleasure

6 Sex and Other Distractions

7 Boom!

8 Schooldays

9 Man at Work

10 Down on the Farm

11 What, Me Worry?

12 Out and About

13 The Pubic Years

14 Farewell

Bibliography

Illustrations