Bill Bryson on his most personal journey yet: into his own childhood in Americas Mid-West. Bill Brysons first travel book opened with the immortal line, I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to. In his very funny new memoir, he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was, and the curious world of 1950s America. It was a happy time, when almost everything was good for you, including cigarettes and nuclear fallout. This is a book about growing up in a specific time and place. But in Brysons hands, it becomes everyones story, one that will speak volumes - especially to anyone who has ever been young.