The Body

A Guide for Occupants

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 15 Oct 2019 | Archive Date 29 Oct 2019

Talking about this book? Use #TheBody #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD

"Glorious. . .You will marvel at the brilliance and vast weirdness of your design." The Washington Post

Bill Bryson, bestselling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, takes us on a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body. As addictive as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best, a must-read owner's manual for everybody.


Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body--how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, "We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted." The Body will cure that indifference with generous doses of wondrous, compulsively readable facts and information.
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST • LONGLISTED FOR THE PEN E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD

"Glorious. . .You will marvel at the...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780385539302
PRICE $35.00 (USD)
PAGES 464

Average rating from 142 members


Featured Reviews

I loved this newest book by Bill Bryson. Once again, he takes a topic and makes it an utterly fascinating adventure, this time through the human body. I can't wait to amaze my friends with my new knowledge :) In true, Bryson form the read is humorous, full of fascinating information, and told in a way that is so intriguing to read.

Was this review helpful?

Even for someone with a science/ medical background this was PHENOMENAL!
What an absolutely interesting and eye opening adventure into our bodies; and told in such a entertaining way!!!
Recommend for ANYONE and EVERYONE

Thanks to netgalley and Doubleday books for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Want to dominate any science questions at bar trivia? The Body has you covered! For those of us who haven't had a biology class since we fulfilled some course requirement ages ago, Bryson gives an excellent overview of what doctors and scientists know about all our different body parts and bodily functions.

The Body does for biology what books like Lies My Teacher Told me or A People's History of the United States have done for history; it updates and corrects some common misconceptions that may have been passed on to us at one stage or another.

Bryson's dry wit will come across even more clearly when this is eventually made into an audiobook. While reading, I imagined Alton Brown reading the text in the same manner he talks to the audience in Good Eats. Bill Nye would be a great narrator, too!

It's clear that The Body is aimed at a general audience. (Readers who specialize in the biological sciences might want more detail than this book provides.)

One caveat, particularly for Goodreads reviewers--more than our fair share of us have had frustrating or scary "adventures" through the medical system. Since Bryson spends a surprising amount of time discussing the things doctors *don't* know, this aspect of the text could be unsettling.

Four stars for the print version--and if the audiobook is available when you're making your purchasing decision, I would definitely give this a listen.

Thanks to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for my DRC of this book, which will be available for purchase on October 15th.

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: