Body Guide Occupants Bill Bryson ebook Reviews Summary

Writing Style

Pros:

• "Because, although it is fact-packed, it's told in Bill Bryson's easy style and, further, it's liberally interspersed with real, human, stories."
• "Typical Bryson, well written, very thoroughly researched, a bit of humor here & there."
• "It's very smooth and easy-to-understand sort of writing, but at times also poetic."
• "Bill Bryson always has been funny, but this is the first time I've read chapters of medical books laughing out loud!"
• "Bryson’s writing is clear and delightful from start to finish."
• "Bill Bryson has a great knack for providing detail information in an entertaining and interesting way."
• "Bill Bryson just happens to craft every sentence so that it reads perfectly."

Cons:

• "I was bothered by one thing... I did fact check a couple of things that are slightly misstated."
• "What I miss the most as I am reading through the book is the humor Mr. Bryson had in the 'Walk in Woods' book."
• "I hate to think I've grown disenchanted with Bill Bryson's style, but it appears I have."
• "It feels like a 'teen' book, as it's so basic! It's very boring, except for the occasional tidbit."
• "His smug and arrogant writing makes this book a chore to read."
• "Too often the tone is dismissive or flippant about topics that are serious issues in people's lives."
• "His 'science' is just sensationalist, fearmongering journalism in disguise."

Educational Value

Pros:

• "The parts of the body, how they work or don't causing illnesses were very good with lots of common sense in normal not medical language."
• "I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in how our body works."
• "This is one of those books I feel so strongly that everyone should read."
• "It’s a book with meat and potatoes as opposed to marshmallow fluff."
• "This book brought back what I learned over thirty years ago as well as what has occurred scientifically since then."
• "From a medical point of view, the contents are accurate (although there's evolution in our thinking on a lot of this every month), and they have a reasonable amount of detail."
• "One of the things I learned was that continuing to learn and keeping my brain active will help me avoid dementia."

Cons:

• "With so many topics that are covered, I feel like I retained very little."
• "I just began to read this book and would like to return it as Bryson is a proponent of evolution which I do not agree with and cannot accept."
• "The only slightly jarring note in the entertaining, fascinating and important book is the repeated use of 'we don't know about X, Y and Z.'"
• "I just feel that if you're not really into medicine and history, this might not be the best read for it."
• "The problem was the topic itself: it was waaaaay too broad."
• "However I felt there was glaring omission in the nutritional chapter."
• "Discussion of infection, bare mentions of vaccines and nothing re controversy over them."

Entertainment Value

Pros:

• "Bryson is a joy to read!"
• "As a biology/medical nerd, I could hardly believe it when I saw the funny and talented Bill Bryson had written a book on that topic!"
• "Bill Bryson knocks it out of the park again with his inimitable style of making it interesting to learn stuff."
• "Especially like the parts where he calls much-needed praise and recognition to those people that were not given credit for their discoveries."
• "It’s incredibly informative with dashes of Mr. Bryson’s humor."
• "This book is so interesting! So many facts that are told in such a charming way."
• "Who else but Bill Bryson could write a book that packs so much useful information between it's covers yet keep it enjoyable to read and keeping a sense of humor?"