An older but still good Bryson nonfiction book. His eccentricity lies in part in his habit of asking questions that few if any others had thought to ask, and then attempting to answer them with deep scholarly digging into archaeology and history. In this story, he first relates the history of establishing a home, and then tours the remodelled rectory that is his home, and documents what might have gone on in different rooms, over eons of time and around the world, in similar rooms, or those of wealthier Brits.
At times the discussion is tangential to the topic of rooms; in the 32 page chapter on the drawing room, he delineates the origins of many similar names, discusses the eccentric characters responsible for designing many elaborate houses and furniture and barely mentions the rooms.
The chapter on cellars really has nothing much to say about cellars and is mainly about building materials, from stucco, brick, iron and steel.
There must be a lot of exaggeration. A surgeon claims that he performed 200 amputations in 24 hours or one every 7 minutes and 15 seconds.
Not as good as A Brief History of Almost Everything, but still very informative and entertaining.
3.8/5
Thanks, Mike.
The Passionate Reader 