A loving and hilarious—if occasionally spiky—valentine to Bill Bryson’s adopted country, Great Britain. Prepare for total joy and multiple episodes of unseemly laughter. Twenty years ago, Bill Bryson went on a trip around Britain to discover and celebrate that green and pleasant land. The result was Notes from a Small Island, a true classic and one of the bestselling travel books ever written. … travel books ever written. Now he has traveled about Britain again, by bus and train and rental car and on foot, to see what has changed—and what hasn’t.
Following (but not too closely) a route he dubs the Bryson Line, from Bognor Regis in the south to Cape Wrath in the north, by way of places few travelers ever get to at all, Bryson rediscovers the wondrously beautiful, magnificently eccentric, endearingly singular country that he both celebrates and, when called for, twits. With his matchless instinct for the funniest and quirkiest and his unerring eye for the idiotic, the bewildering, the appealing, and the ridiculous, he offers acute and perceptive insights into all that is best and worst about Britain today.
Nothing is more entertaining than Bill Bryson on the road—and on a tear. The Road to Little Dribbling reaffirms his stature as a master of the travel narrative—and a really, really funny guy.
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For all those people that travel, esp. the UK..
My husband and I always have a “together” book going that we take turns reading back and forth to each other in the evenings. Years ago we read Bill Bryson’s “A Walk In the Woods,” and laughed ourselves silly. Our son (a teenager at the time) thought we’d gone around the bend.
Whether you read “The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain” to yourself, or share it with another, it’s another catalyst for knee-slapping laughter.
I enjoy Bill Bryson’s wry and often gritty sense of humor along with his information about interesting places to travel and discover.
At first I liked this book because of the author’s sense of humor but it didn’t keep my interest.
Kept me chortling all the way through.
Loved it
It’s Bill Bryson, what can I say?
The author is quite a complainer. This may have been cute or interesting first time around but this time it simply puts a downer on reading the travelogue. Didn’t finish it.
I have eagerly devoured almost all of Bill Bryson’s previous books, so I delighted to find the audio version of this latest book, The Road to Little Dribbling, at my local library.
Mr. Bryson revisited many of the stops he made in Notes from a Small Island. He again includes some interesting tidbits about various small hamlets throughout England, Wales and Scotland. There were several places and artifacts that piqued my interest enough to research for more information.
Sadly, the author’s usual humor and keen observations quickly turn into snarky diatribes about everything from McDonalds to Microsoft to England’s railway system. There is quite a lot of dialogue in this book, but most of it is comprised of the rude comebacks the author would have liked to have said to various shop owners and servers he encountered.
The curmudgeonly complaining overtook the storytelling at times, and I could only take short bursts of the audiobook as I found myself feeling drained by the extensive negativity. While there were some interesting bits, overall, the audiobook felt like a nine-hour rant (total length is 14 hours and 3 minutes).
The audiobook is well narrated by Nathan Osgood.
Typical Bill Bryson humor. Very entertaining. Good take on British sensibilities. I liked it,
I will read anything Bill Bryson writes. It’s wonderful to share a journey through a book with an intelligent and witty guide. Mr. Bryson, I hope you are currently sitting at your typewriter and just about to send a new manuscript off to your publisher. I’m waiting!
Another of Bill Bryson’s likeable books.
I love Bill Bryson. He makes me smile (and laugh)!
Bill Bryson is hilarious.
Absolutely delightful!
Bryson at his best.
ANYTHING by Bill Bryson!
Take the trip – you’ll enjoy the company!
Typically informative book by Bill Bryson told in hilarious fashion!
entertaining and amusing. Bryson doesn’t dissapoint ever.