VIP'S BOOK CLUB
BRI JACKSON REVIEWS
AT HOME
A SHORT HISTORY OF PRIVATE LIFE BY WILLIAM "BILL" MCGUIRE BRYSON Bill Bryson’s At Home: A Short History of Private Life takes the reader room by room through Bryson’s home, a Victorian parsonage in the English countryside, as he details the history of, well, almost everything. About a third of the way through the book, we find ourselves in the dining room and a detailed discussion of Victorian dining habits and the dishes one finds on the table, such as a cruet stand. Thus begins the history of condiments and spices. “Scores of other flavorings were applied in the kitchen. But just two were considered so indispensable that they never left the table at all. I refer of course to salt and pepper. Why is it that these two, out of all the hundreds of spices and flavorings available, have such a durable venerability…?” And with that, Bryson boards a British fleet in the 1740s that lost 1,400 men out of two thousand who sailed over a three-year period. Cause of death: scurvy. Bryson’s house is a map for the history of the world. In the drawing room with its expensive finishings of carved moldings, cornice, and fireplace surround, we are given the history of architecture and a detailed introduction to its most influential person, Andrea Palladio. On the landing, he studies the walls and with that comes a brief but fascinating history of wallpaper and paint. In the bathroom, we (maybe obviously?) learn about hygiene. 22
VIPMagSC.com
September2022 February 2021
Ancient peoples such as the Minoans, Greeks, and Romans, had fully developed water supply and drainage systems. We all know how much the Romans appreciated their baths. But then, at the beginning of the Middle Ages, people stopped bathing altogether. The Christian church began equating holiness with dirtiness. The start and spread of the plague during that time also made people averse to bathing and therefore opening their pores to the “deathly vapors”. I could really go on and on with the interesting facts and amusing stories found throughout this book. Full disclosure: it is one of my all-time favorite books. Bryson’s wit is sharp and quite amusingly imparts detailed history lessons as if they were fiction rather than fact. Although the introduction is a bit laborious (you have my permission to skip it), At Home is a pleasure to read and will surely improve your Jeopardy! game. William “Bill” McGuire Bryson, OBE, is an American writer. His work is of the bestselling category and comprises humorous books on travel; as well as books on the English language and on science. Though he was born in the USA, he spent most of his adult life in the UK.
