I have enjoyed several of Bill Bryson’s books.    They are usually light, accessible, and easy to read.   This book was an interesting read too.   It does not try to be an anatomy text, nor does it try to be a version of The Human Body for Dummies.   Bryson organizes his book into chapters by functions of the body (the brain, the skeleton, etc.) and within each section he provides a combination of facts, current research, and anecdotes.    There are some sobering sections, some humorous ones, and some parts are a bit dry, but on the whole he keeps the narrative engaging.

I sometimes choose a Bill Bryson book after having read a more difficult book.   The first book I read by Bryson was A Walk in the Woods,  a favorite.   After that I also read Notes from a Small Country, In a Sunburned Country, Neither Here nor There, The Road to Little Dribbling, and A Really Short History of Nearly Everything.

The strength of the book, though, is in his thoughts on the expiry date for our body, and the things that may lead to a decline in later life – cancer, heart disease, dementia, lifestyle choices, and in all the many ways we can allow ourselves to decrease our quality of life as we age.   The book is a gentle reminder to be good caretakers of the only body we will have.

“There are thousands of things that can kill us—slightly more than eight thousand, according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems compiled by the World Health Organization—and we escape every one of them but one. For most of us, that’s not a bad deal.”

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