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Used
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Trade Paperback
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9780804172721
Overview
Overview
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR:
THE WASHINGTON POST - FINANCIAL TIMES - THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS - BOOKPAGE - BOSTON.COM
Bill Bryson, bestselling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, takes us on a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body. As addictive as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best, a must-read owner's manual for everybody. Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body--how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted. The Body will cure that indifference with generous doses of wondrous, compulsively readable facts and information.
THE WASHINGTON POST - FINANCIAL TIMES - THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS - BOOKPAGE - BOSTON.COM
Bill Bryson, bestselling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, takes us on a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body. As addictive as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best, a must-read owner's manual for everybody. Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body--how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted. The Body will cure that indifference with generous doses of wondrous, compulsively readable facts and information.
- Format: TradePaperback
- Author: Bryson, Bill
- ISBN: 9780804172721
- Condition: Used
- Dimensions: 8.00 x 0.95
- Number Of Pages: 464
- Publication Year: 2021
Customer Reviews
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The Body
Mark A. - 4 years 11 months agoAnother book well done again by Bill Bryson. Excellent.
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Bryson on the Body
Greg B. - 5 years 7 months agoI just can't seem to get enough of Bill Bryson, and his latest book, The Body, was yet another treat. This tour of the human body part by part is packed with Bryson's trademark blend of scientific facts, fascinating people, ironic wit, and, best of all, his brimming curiosity and clear sense of wonder. Here are a few Bryson observations that stuck with me: > After noting that we constantly shed our outer skin cells, contributing to the dust that accumulates on our shelves, Bryson concludes: "Silently and remorselessly we turn to dust." > Bryson recounts his experience in a dissecting room at the University of Nottingham, where he watched a professor peel a layer of skin about a millimeter thick from a human body and then remark, "That . . . is where all your skin color is. That's all that race is--a sliver of epidermis." > At the same university, Bryson discovered that bodies donated to the school for science are treated with great respect and are eventually returned to families, whereupon staff members and medical students often attend the funeral services. The school does not even permit cell phones in dissecting rooms lest bodies be photographed in disrespectful ways. One staffer told him, "These were real people with hopes and dreams and families and all the rest that makes us human, who have given their bodies to help others, and that's incredibly noble, and we try very hard never to lose sight of that." > In the chapter on human sexuality, Bryson writes that some species do not engage in sex at all. Geckos, for instance, come from eggs laid by the mother with no male fertilization. Thus, those little geckos are genetic clones of their mom. But Bryson notes that the genetic mixing that happens through sexual reproduction has great advantages. In what is probably the best line of the book, he writes, "Cloning gives you the same thing over and over. Sex gives you Einstein and Rembrandt--and lots of dorks, too, of course." I believe I enjoyed Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything just a bit better than this book. Still, what Bryson does, he does very well, and I will be happy to read anything he releases. #bannedbook
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Another winner from a great writer
David W. - 6 years 1 month agoAs always from Bill Bryson an interesting read. Lots of great stories that explain detailed subjects in way we can all understand. This book does miss some of the back stories of people who helped move history along. There are some of that kind of details just not as much as he put in previous books.
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Another Bryson Hit
Ashley K. - 6 years 1 month agoI adore Bill Bryson for his quick wit and silver tongue. This time he takes us on an adventure through our own bodies, advancing from the microbial onward. Facts are interspersed with stories about scientists and myths are busted with an application of logic and care. Readers will get a quick linguistics lesson (did you know the disease shingles has nothing to do with the roofing material, that each word comes from a different Latin word, but in English happen to have the same spelling?) along with the bright and pithy writing that sets Bryson apart from other authors. We're weird inside, y'all, and Bryson celebrates that with every paragraph, laying out what makes us tick in an entertaining and accessible way.