Rating: 
Summary: A very enjoyable tour of American English
Review: This book single-handedly interested me in etymology and linguistics. Bill Bryson turns his well-known ability at writing humor and travel literature, and applies with ease toward the English language. Neither this, nor his other work "The Mother Tongue", should be missed!
Rating: 
Summary: Too much history
Review: This book was an ejoyable read. My only warning is that it is much, much less a book on the history of American English than an excuse to write up a laundry list of hilarious anecdotes relating to our cultural heritage. Very few of them have anything to do with language. The first chapter or two is a real historical exposition of sorts on American English. After that, Bryson weaves through several chapters on topics from fast food to air travel, each of whose only credential as a piece of linguistic history is randomly interspersed mention of when words relating to that particular topic were first coined. Telling us when "hamburger" or "airplane" was coined actually starts seeming tangential to the story and merely obligatory on his part. If you want to purchase an amusing and informal account of our nation's history, then you'll like this book fine. Just don't expect you'll read a real history of our language.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and Witty Collection of American Anacdotes
Review: This is a big Bill Bryson book, his thickest effort yet, I believe. It's also a book with a split personality, but one that works in the end."Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States," is more than the title suggests. Much of the book is given over to an exploration of American English etymology and phraseology. However, Bryson spends considerable time venturing off into what can best be described as an anecdotal journey through American history. It works. In fact, the anecdotalisms are the best part of the book. I've noticed in this and "The Mother Tongue" (his exploration of the King's English), Bryson's word histories sometimes run towards long lists with not enough exploration to make them interesting. That same pattern is true for the early part of this book. However, Bryson soon gets sidetracked in discussing various historical oddities and characters that make very interesting and usually witty reading. This is a good, light book that can be enjoyed in small pieces if desired. It's anecdotal parts most resemble one of those "1001 Things Everyone Ought To Know About American History Books" -- in short, a collection of brief and interesting stories that are well written and evoke the occasional guffaw. His word derivations and explorations are more scholarly and exact. Often fascinating, they sometimes are a bit too list oriented and crowded. But, ultimately they are still interesting if one would like to know why we: "Keep the ball rolling," live in many places named after Indian words, call our soldiers "GIs drive in "cars" and "autos" or speak in the numerous ways that are not literal nor necessarily logical but are definitely American.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and Witty Collection of American Anacdotes
Review: This is a big Bill Bryson book, his thickest effort yet, I believe. It's also a book with a split personality, but one that works in the end. "Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States," is more than the title suggests. Much of the book is given over to an exploration of American English etymology and phraseology. However, Bryson spends considerable time venturing off into what can best be described as an anecdotal journey through American history. It works. In fact, the anecdotalisms are the best part of the book. I've noticed in this and "The Mother Tongue" (his exploration of the King's English), Bryson's word histories sometimes run towards long lists with not enough exploration to make them interesting. That same pattern is true for the early part of this book. However, Bryson soon gets sidetracked in discussing various historical oddities and characters that make very interesting and usually witty reading. This is a good, light book that can be enjoyed in small pieces if desired. It's anecdotal parts most resemble one of those "1001 Things Everyone Ought To Know About American History Books" -- in short, a collection of brief and interesting stories that are well written and evoke the occasional guffaw. His word derivations and explorations are more scholarly and exact. Often fascinating, they sometimes are a bit too list oriented and crowded. But, ultimately they are still interesting if one would like to know why we: "Keep the ball rolling," live in many places named after Indian words, call our soldiers "GIs drive in "cars" and "autos" or speak in the numerous ways that are not literal nor necessarily logical but are definitely American.
Rating:
Summary: Witty, fun, erudite
Review: This is by far my favorite book by Bill Bryson. I bought this for my wife who is a devotee of word derivations, but found that it sated my interest in history, and also provided a multitude of fun, and interesting, facts about popular culture. Unlike most of Bryson's works this is a serious scholarly effort, but is written in an entertaining rather than academic fashion. Also, unlike other Bryson works this is less opinionated, and uncharacteristically celebrates the many fascinating and admirable factors in the evolution of a distinct American culture. While his typical sardonic humor comes through it is more understated, and not at all unkind. A fun and educational book that you will want to leisurely enjoy a chapter at a time, and not necessarily in sequential order.
Rating:
Summary: One of the absolute best books I've ever read!
Review: This is the first book I can recall reading where the closer I got to the end, the slower I read because the thought of it ever ending was just too painful! Bill Bryson has an incredible skill with the anecdote, and I learned more of the everyday and trivial aspects of America's history in this book than in anything else I've ever read or thumbed through. Anyone who finds entymology fascinating or has a penchant for history will count their pre-Made in America days empty and wasted and will be forced to start counting their birthdays over again from when they began at page one.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing, entertaining, and highly educational
Review: This wonderful book's title is something of a misnomer. It is as much a plain history of America -- albeit in very loose, mostly anecdotal form -- as it is a history of the English language in the country, though it does that very well. The word "informal" in the title is key. Though the book is, unquestionably, a scholarly work, and clearly was exahustively-researched, Bryson writes in a very loose, personal style, such as a scholar might share with you over a drink (if you've ever managed to corner an English or History professor in a non-classrooom setting and engage them in conversation, you know the feeling.) His writing style is very appealing, and it keeps the book going smoothly: though absolutely bursting with information and endless factoids, the book is a very quick read, thanks to Bryson's personable writing style. Bryson begins his story with the landing of the Mayflower, and then proceeds to give a pre-history of America, and winds his way all the way up to the very latter part of the 20th century. He examines the English that was spoken by the early colonists, and how it has since evolved. The book is then split into chapters that deal with various aspects of American life -- shopping, war, sex, travel, etc. -- and how they have altered and added to our language. In every such chapter, Bryson details how the words that we use in relation to them came about, where they come from, when they were first used, and much, much more. Along the way, he discourses on such perenially-interesting topics as swear words, slang, cultural taboos (the chapter on sex is particularly enlightening), and he even takes a -- quite thoughtful -- swipe at the PC debate. Many of these facts are, to say the least, quite surprising. Trust me, however much you know about the subject of American English going on, you will know a lot more after reading the book (I, for one, had no idea that there was such a wide difference between American and British English.) That said, the book is almost as much a history book as it is an etymology book. Quite thoughtfully, Bryson not only gives us information on the origins of words, but also relays to us the social contexts in which they emerged -- a background without which much of the etymological information would be rendered meaningless. In a stark contrast to the standard high school textbook interpretation of history, Bryson gives us a highly anecdotal fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants history of the United States; buckle up, friends, it's one wild ride. These stories are almost consistently interesting, frequently witty, very often funny, invariably surprising, and sometimes quick simply shocking. They are the kind of stories that will make you want to stop in the middle of your reading, find the nearest person to you, and shout out breathlessly, "Did you know...?!" Along the way, Bryson manages to debunk many of the most-cherished American stories -- I won't spoil any of them for you here, but rest assured that you will be quite shocked -- while confirming others, and creating some anew. As one commentor on the book succinctly said, If there is a more popular American pasttime than creating myths, it is trying to debunk them. Bryson, an American living in the U.K. at the time this book was written, seems generally proud to be an American, affirming the greatness of many of its folk heroes while holding the bright flame of truth up to some of its longest-standing fables, all in the admirable spirit of fierce, if tempered, patriotism. Due to this dichotomy, some sections of the book get very weighed down in almost list-like paragraphs detailing the origins of words, while some chapters, conversely, consist almost entirely of anecdotal histories with hardly any etymological content at all. All in all, it makes for very fun, interesting reading that goes by quickly and smootly; you'll learn a lot while reading it, and you'll enjoy yourself while doing it. This great book, which is much, much more than the title suggests, is a great read for anyone interested in the subjects it deals with, and an absolute must for scholars of American English and American History. Such is the enjoyment inherent in its nature, that I even recommend it to the general reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Packed full o' facts! Patchy research.
Review: USA writer living in the UK, Bill Bryson takes stock of America. This book provides a humorous and critical re-look at the history of American and its version of the English language. I thoroughly enjoyed the book initially. The irreverant look at "real American history" rather than the fabricated and polished "offical version" was refreshing and enlightening. However, the "packed full o' facts" style gets tiresome after a while. Some of the "startling revelations" (Bill's special style)are intriguing -- but made me start to question his research as much as the accuracy "official history". I noticed a large number of factual errors particularly when he compared English-English and US-English -- many words and phrases that he claims are dead in England are in fact in very common usuage and some that he claims are alive in the US I have never heard or read in the US (or not in works published in the last 100+ years), and vice versa. It got to the point where the author had to some degree discredited himself in my eyes. Hopefully readers will not take his assertions at face value. Although ostensibly humerous, this book is actually formatted as something of a candid, factual modern update on the history of America and the contemporary American and English languages. A lot of people love Bill's work, but regretably I cannot recommend this particular book. [Hard-nosed BBC interviewer, Jeremy Paxman seemed to encounter similar problems in his recent book about the English -- perhaps this seemly innocuous subject matter is more challenging than might be expected?]. By all means try this book, it has redeeming qualities and my relations love Bill's work, including this book -- but take it with a pinch of salt.
Rating:
Summary: Packed full o' facts! Patchy research.
Review: USA writer living in the UK, Bill Bryson takes stock of America. This book provides a humorous and critical re-look at the history of American and its version of the English language. I thoroughly enjoyed the book initially. The irreverant look at "real American history" rather than the fabricated and polished "offical version" was refreshing and enlightening. However, the "packed full o' facts" style gets tiresome after a while. Some of the "startling revelations" (Bill's special style)are intriguing -- but made me start to question his research as much as the accuracy "official history". I noticed a large number of factual errors particularly when he compared English-English and US-English -- many words and phrases that he claims are dead in England are in fact in very common usuage and some that he claims are alive in the US I have never heard or read in the US (or not in works published in the last 100+ years), and vice versa. It got to the point where the author had to some degree discredited himself in my eyes. Hopefully readers will not take his assertions at face value. Although ostensibly humerous, this book is actually formatted as something of a candid, factual modern update on the history of America and the contemporary American and English languages. A lot of people love Bill's work, but regretably I cannot recommend this particular book. [Hard-nosed BBC interviewer, Jeremy Paxman seemed to encounter similar problems in his recent book about the English -- perhaps this seemly innocuous subject matter is more challenging than might be expected?]. By all means try this book, it has redeeming qualities and my relations love Bill's work, including this book -- but take it with a pinch of salt.
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