Bill Bryson’s bestselling books include A Walk in the Woods (now a major motion picture starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte), Notes from a Small Island, I’m a Stranger Here Myself, In a Sunburned Country, A Short History of Nearly Everything (which earned him the 2004 Aventis Prize), The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, At Home, and One Summer. He lives in England with his wife.
Praise for The Road to Little Dribbling:
"Although he's now entering what he fondly calls his 'dotage,' the
64-year-old Bryson seems merely to have sharpened both his charms
and his crotchets. As the title of The Road to Little Dribbling
suggests, he remains devoted to Britain's eccentric place names as
well as its eccentric pastimes."
—Alida Becker, The New York Times Book Review
"[Y]ou could hardly ask for a better guide to Great Britain than
Bill Bryson. Bryson’s new book is in most ways a worthy
successor and sequel to his classic Notes From A Small Island. Like
its predecessor, The Road to Little Dribbling is a travel memoir,
combining adventures and observations from his travels around the
island nation with recounting of his life there, off and mostly on,
over the last four decades. Bryson is such a good writer that
even if you don’t especially go in for travel books, he makes
reading this book worthwhile."
—Nancy Klingener, Miami Herald
"...Bryson’s capacity for wonder at the beauty of his adopted
homeland seems to have only grown with time.... Britain is
still his home four decades later, a period in which he went from
lowly scribe at small-town British papers to best-selling travel
writer. But he retains an outsider’s appreciation for a country
that first struck him as 'wholly strange ... and yet somehow
marvelous.”
—Griff Witte, Washington Post
“Such a pleasure to once again travel the lanes and walking paths
of Britain in the company of Bill Bryson! He’s a little older now,
and not necessarily wiser, but he’s as delightful and irascible a
guide as anyone could ever wish to have, as he rediscovers this
somewhat careworn land and finds it as endearing (mostly) as ever.
It’s a rare book that will make me laugh out loud. This one did,
over and over.”
—Erik Larson, author of Dead Wake and The Devil in the White
City
"There’s a whole lot of “went to a charming little village named
Bloke-on-Weed, had a look around, a cupof tea, and moved on” in
Bryson’s most recent toddle around Britain. Writing 20 years after
his bestselling Notes from a Small Island, Bryson concocts another
trip through his homeland of 40 years bydetermining the longest
distance one could travel in Britain in a straight
line... This being Bryson, one chuckles every couple of pages,
of course, saying, 'yup, that sounds about right,' to his
curmudgeonly commentary on everything from excess traffic and
litter to rude sales clerks. One also feels the thrum of wanderlust
as Bryson encounters another gem of a town or pip of a pub. And
therein lies the charm of armchair traveling with Bryson. He
clearly adores his adopted country. There are no better views,
finer hikes, more glorious castles, or statelier grounds than the
ones he finds, and Bryson takes readers on a lark of a walk across
this small island with megamagnetism."
—Booklist, starred review
"Fans should expect to chuckle, snort, snigger, grunt, laugh out
loud and shake with recognition…a clotted cream and homemade jam
scone of a treat."
—Sunday Times
"At its best as the history of a love affair, the very special
relationship between Bryson and Britain. We remain lucky to have
him."
—Matthew Engel, Financial Times
"Is it the funniest travel book I’ve read all year? Of course it
is."
—Daily Telegraph
"We have a tradition in this country of literary teddy bears—John
Betjeman and Alan Bennett among them—whose cutting critiques of the
absurdities and hypocrisies of the British people are carried out
with such wit and good humour that they become national treasures.
Bill Bryson is American but is now firmly established in the
British teddy bear pantheon... The fact that this wonderful writer
can unerringly catalogue all our faults and is still happy to put
up with us should make every British reader’s chest swell with
pride."
—Jake Kerridge, Sunday Express
"The truly great thing about Bryson is that he really cares and is
insanely curious... Reading his work is like going on holiday with
the members of Monty Python."
—Chris Taylor, Mashable
"There were moments when I snorted out loud with laughter while
reading this book in public... He can be as gloriously silly as
ever."
—The London Times
"The observation, the wit, the geniality of Bryson’s inimitable
words illuminate ever chapter."
—Terry Wogan, Irish Times
"Everybody loves Bill Bryson, don’t they? He’s clever, witty,
entertaining, a great companion... his research is on show here,
producing insight, wisdom and startling nuggets of information...
Bill Bryson and his new book are the dog’s bollocks."
—Independent on Sunday
"Stuffed with eye-opening facts and statistics..... Bryson's charm
and wit continue to float off the page....Recognising oneself is
part of the pleasure of reading Bryson's mostly affable rants about
Britain and Britishness."
—Daily Mail
"His millions of readers will probably enjoy this just as much as
its predecessor."
—Observer
"We go to him less for insights—though there are plenty of
these—and more for the pleasure of his company. And he can be very
funny indeed. Almost every page has a line worth quoting."
—Glasgow Herald
"At last, Bill Bryson has got back to what he does best—penning
travel books that educate, inform and will have you laughing out
loud... I was chuckling away by page four and soaking up his
historic facts to impress my mates with. Sure to be a
bestseller."
—Sun
"Bryson has no equal. He combines the charm and humour of Michael
Palin with the cantankerousness of Victor Meldrew and the result is
a benign intolerance that makes for a gloriously funny read."
—Daily Express
Ask a Question About this Product More... |