Nonfiction offers something for everyone

Thundering time warp
Few people can recall their childhoods with vivid, accurate detail, never mind craft it into an engaging narrative that leads readers to see the world simultaneously through an adult’s and a child’s eyes. But Bill Bryson’s “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid” (Broadway Books, $25) does exactly that with his exploration into his childhood in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Using a combination of reporting and humor, and a liberal dose of now-extinct product name-dropping (the Amana Stor-Mor refrigerator!), Bryson recalls both an era and a particular sort of approach to the world that belongs only to kids.

“Pleasurable as it was to watch nuclear blasts and take on a warm glow of radioactivity,” Bryson writes, “the real joy of the decade — better than flattops, rocket mail, spray-on mayonnaise, and the atomic bomb combined — was television. It is almost not possible now to appreciate just how welcome TV was.”

It’s in these moments, when he’s using his adult knowledge to recall his experiences, that he’s at his best. But the memoir has a tone that’s somewhat uneven, as Bryson switches between channeling Jean Shepherd’s gentle nostalgia infused with irony, David Sedaris’ acerbic wit, and The New Yorker’s heavily-researched historical supporting paragraphs. Still, getting lost in Bryson’s often-hilarious string of fond recollections isn’t difficult at all.    —Andy Dehnart

Yanks soar in ‘The Few’
The challenge for any author chronicling wartime is to convey the point of view of soldiers to civilians who might never know the wages of battle. In his book “The Few—The American ‘Knights of the Air’ who Risked Everything to Fight in the Battle of Britain” (Da Capo Press, $25), Alex Kershaw succeeds brilliantly by focusing on a small group of Americans who risked their lives and gave up their citizenship to fly for England’s Royal Air Force. They did so before the U.S. was dragged into World War II by the attack on Pearl Harbor, making their journey all the more remarkable.

In Kershaw’s skilled hands, the seven young Americans are portrayed in lively, exciting prose and with a minimum of melodrama. Using seemingly miles of research, from personal correspondence and interviews to an exhaustive bibliography, Kershaw’s book conveys England’s desperate air battle versus Germany’s Luftwaffe with understated authority. Filled with detailed accounts of air battles, but never losing sight of the drama on the ground, “The Few” provides a clear and heartbreaking view of wartime England. Winston Churchill, whose path crosses more than once with the pilots, inspires a nation while heroes like Eugene “Red” Tobin become instant celebrities, wisecracking Yanks adopted by the country they’ve come to defend as their own.

Drawn to the war by the promise of flying the advanced Spitfire and Hurricane planes, the Americans soon become deeply engaged in the grueling battle as they realize how high the stakes have become. In the end, the terrible toll of a war of attrition claims them, but Kershaw’s book serves as a winning tribute to the “Knights of the Air” who battled tyranny at a time when their home country would not.      —O.L.G.

A marvelous menagerie
What’s a narwhal? How do butterflies pick their mates? Do dogs feel emotions more strongly than humans? Author and former psychoanalyst Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson tackles these pressing questions and more in “Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras: A Menagerie of 100 Favorite Animals” (Ballantine Books, $28). But for those who can’t wait, the answers are: a whale, “sparkle,” and yes, respectively. At least according to Masson.

In fact, a lot of the information contained in Masson’s latest text is open to debate and subject to his anthropomorphizing tendencies. And, yet, that doesn’t detract from the fun — which should come as no surprise to anyone who enjoyed his past publications, including “Dogs Never Lie About Love” and “When Elephants Weep.” Needless to say, readers hoping for an encyclopedic reference guide to animals won’t find it here.

What’s offered, instead, is an affectionately informative, and sometimes irreverent, glimpse at the animal kingdom. For instance, the bilby, which looks like the result of a tryst between a kangaroo and rat, is described as “so lovely to look at.” And there’s even a chapter dedicated to the yeti. That’s right, with only 100 beasts to choose from, a mythic one makes it in. Even so, somehow its inclusion fits this fun collection.

With each critter covered in two to five pages, there’s just enough info to keep readers wanting more and little chance of growing bored with a single subject. And while the format lends itself well to being left for a while and picked back up effortlessly, most will find this quick read difficult to put down at all.     —Ree Hines

Andy Dehnart is a writer in DeLand, Florida. Ree Hines is a writer in Tampa. Omar L. Gallaga is a writer in Austin, Tex. Helen A.S. Popkin is a writer in the Bronx.

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