The Body
A Guide for Occupants
Checking Availibility...Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2019 BY Maclean's o The Washington Post o USA Today o Indigo
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 compulsively readable 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.
About this Author
BILL BRYSON's bestselling books include A Walk in the Woods, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and A Short History of Nearly Everything (which won the Aventis Prize in Britain and the Descartes Prize, the European Union's highest literary award). He was chancellor of Durham University, England's third oldest university, from 2005 to 2011, and is an honorary fellow of Britain's Royal Society.
Reviews
National Bestseller
New York Times Bestseller
International Bestseller
Shortlisted for the 2020 Royal Society Science Book Prize
Longlisted for the PEN E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award
A New York Times Editors' Choice
A Washington Post Notable Work of Nonfiction in 2019
A Maclean's Best Book of 2019
A USA Today Best Book of 2019
An Indigo Best Book of 2019
"Glorious. . . . Having described the physical nature of our world and beyond, from the atomic to the intergalactic, in The Body [Bryson] now turns inward to explain--in his lucid, amusing style--what we're made of. . . . You will marvel at the brilliance and vast weirdness of your design." --The Washington Post
"Delightful . . . Informative, entertaining. . . . [Bryson] gives off a Cronkite-like trustworthy vibe [and] is good at allaying fears and busting myths." --The New York Times Book Review
"Fascinating." --NPR
"Few things in literary life match the anticipation of a new book by Bill Bryson. [His] newest book focuses our attention on our bodies, with his usual blend of meticulous research, startling anecdote, wry wisdom, humour and delightful turn of phrase. . . . The Body is a worthy addition to his excellent oeuvre. . . . [It] melds education with entertainment in a thoroughly engaging account, easily readable and accessible to the lay reader. . . . Bryson lives up to the very lofty expectations raised by the, uh, body of his work." --Winnipeg Free Press
"With a combination of geniality and wit unmatched since P.G. Wodehouse, not to mention an ability to synthesize vast amounts of data, Bryson has crafted a career's worth of bestsellers. . . . He is at his best in The Body, a wonderstruck account of what living marvels humans are. . . . The subject offers ample scope for Bryson's eye for the absurd but telling detail and, especially, medical irony. Bryson's look at what makes us, grows us and, ultimately, disposes of us is endlessly engaging, right up to the final chapter." --Maclean's
"Like an adventurer trekking the Appalachian Trail from beginning to end (as this bestselling author did for A Walk in the Woods), Bryson launches himself into the wilderness of the human anatomy armed with his characteristic thoroughness and wit. He ably dissects the knowns and unknowns of how we live and die and all the idiosyncrasies of our shared infrastructure. . . . This book is full of such arresting factoids and, like a douser hunting water, Bryson is adept at finding the bizarre and the arcane in his subject matter. . . . Amazing." --USA Today
"Bill Bryson's The Body is a directory of . . . wonders, a tour of the minuscule; it aims to do for the human body what his A Short History of Nearly Everything did for science. . . . The prose motors gleefully along, a finely tuned engine running on jokes, factoids and biographical interludes. . . . Wry, companionable, avuncular and always lucid . . . [The Body] could stand as an ultimate prescription for life." --The Guardian
"Bill Bryson isn't a medic, biologist or psychiatrist, but that's what makes his exploration of the human body, all seven billion billion billion atoms of it (the book is rich in jaw-dropping stats), so readable and useful. As with his earlier A Short History of Nearly Everything, which offers a non-specialist introduction to science, he asks all the questions a layperson doesn't dare to ask for fear of exposing humiliating ignorance, then answers them in witty, jargon-free prose that glides you through 400 pages. . . . It's fun to read because it's not just comprehensive, but quirky. . . . Bryson thrives." --The Times (UK)
"Many authors have produced such guides in recent years, and some of them are very good. But none have done it quite so well as Mr. Bryson, who writes better, is more amusing and has greater mastery of his material than anyone else. . . . [He] is a master explainer, with a gift for the pithy simile and all-encompassing metaphor. . . . Brisk, provocative and entertaining throughout." --The Wall Street Journal
"[Bryson] describes the often bewildering mystery of diseases, the science of pain, and the advances made in medical treatment, all with care and concern. Bryson's tone is both informative and inviting, encouraging the reader, throughout this exemplary work, to share the sense of wonder he expresses at how the body is constituted and what it is capable of." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A delightful tour guide. . . . Bryson's stroll through human anatomy, physiology, evolution and illness (diabetes, cancer, infections) is instructive, accessible and entertaining." --Booklist, starred review
"Bryson is a champion explainer." --Toronto Star
"Witty, informative. . . . The Body--a delightful, anecdote-propelled read--proves one of [Bryon's] most ambitious [books] yet, as he leads us on a head-to-toe tour of a physique that's terra incognita to many of us." --The Boston Globe
"The king of laugh-out-loud-funny nonfiction takes us on a Magic School Bus-like tour of the human body in his latest exploration. Bryson answers everything we ever wanted to know about what happens inside us--and some things we didn't." --Newsweek
"The lovably genial Bill Bryson . . . relays his findings with a smooth and raconteurish authority. The result is a comforting compendium of fascinating facts, a little like a grown-up version of some Usborne amazing book of the body. . . . It is a feat, too, of narrative skill to bake so many facts into an entertaining and nutritious book, as Bryson sketches the history of lobotomies, phrenology and heart transplants, or scoots through some simple evolutionary theory." --The Daily Telegraph (UK)
"Bill Bryson brings an array of fascinating facts to the page with his easy, readable style. . . . [He] takes us apart section by section looking at everything from the brain, head and heart to sleep and the endocrine system. . . . Ultimately, The Body is 464 pages of sometimes breathtaking information held together by a familiarly cozy storytelling style. . . . It's the perfect seasonal present for the autodidact in your life or even a curious teenager reading up on their own time." --Irish Times
"A congeries of anecdotes, skillfully strung. . . . As ever, the author collects lovely oddments and presents them as so many glittering marbles. . . . A pleasing, entertaining sojourn into the realm of what makes us tick." --Kirkus Reviews
"Bill Bryson is not so much a discoverer of new lands as a charismatic cartographer of existing ones, smartly mapping points of entry into territory that might otherwise remain impenetrable to curious travelers. With light footed prose, The Body winds its way through the dense terrain of anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry. . . . The result is an absorbing catalog of the human body in all its firmness and fatality. . . . The colossal roster of facts on display is dazzling. . . . Bryson's distinctive voice will likely delight readers eager to go sightseeing around the world they embody." --The American Scholar
"Every page is dense with scientific facts written as vividly as a thriller." --The Daily Mail
"An educational and occasional comic stroll through our viscera and other parts." --NBC
"The human body, a miracle of spontaneous self-assembly, is the perfect vehicle for Bryson's trademark humour and fact-sharing compulsion. . . . There is grit as well as wit [in The Body]." --Financial Times
Praise for the books of Bill Bryson
"Bryson is fascinated by everything, and his curiosity is infectious." --The New York Times Book Review
"[Bryson] has a talent for genial, absorbing explanation. He is enthralled by what he has discovered and delighted to share his researches. . . . He is a cheery, idiosyncratic guide, eclectic rather than scholarly, a true populariser." --Financial Times
"The truly great thing about Bryson is that he really cares and is insanely curious. . . . Reading his work is like going on holiday with the members of Monty Python." --Mashable
"[Bryson] reminds me of one of those wonderful teachers whose passion for his subject transfers itself to the student. You retain a sense of enthusiasm and excitement long after you've forgotten the precise details." --San Francisco Chronicle
"[Bryson's] books answer the questions that have always, or maybe never, been rustling at the back of your brain." --The Washington Post
"Reading Bill Bryson is . . . a blast, a constant jaw-dropping trip into the odd corners of almost everything." --The Dallas Morning News
"Bryson could more or less pen a 300-pager about a trip to the supermarket and it would zing with brilliance. . . . He is simply magnificent company for every step of the way." --Irish Independent
If the product is in stock at the store nearest you, we suggest you call ahead to have it set aside for you, or you may place an order online and choose in-store pickup.
