The Road to Little Dribbling

December 21, 2015
Bryson returns to his adopted country of Britain to revisit some of his favorite sites in this followup to his bestselling Notes from a Small Island, published in 1996. He discovers that some of these places, like Dorset, a coastal city Bryson describes as "rolling perfection," remain relatively unchanged, while others have changed for better or worse. He reports that Manchester, a city he took to task in his earlier effort, has improved, though many of his compliments are backhanded. As usual, he scatters an entertaining mix of wacky anecdotes and factoids (e.g., during an eight-week period in 2009, four people in Britain were fatally trampled by cows) throughout, but his enduring mix of wonder and irascibility is what carries readers through his travels. His wry observations and self-deprecating humor keep him from coming off as a bitter cynic, and his lyrical way with words keeps the pages turning.

November 15, 2015
Bryson (One Summer: America, 1927, 2013, etc.) takes us on another fascinating cross-country jaunt. In 1973, while on a European backpacking tour, the author landed in England, got a job at a psychiatric hospital, met a nurse there, and married her, thus beginning a lifelong love affair with Great Britain, where he's lived on and off for decades and to which he paid homage in Notes from a Small Island (1996), his first British travelogue. Twenty years later, he again sets out across his adopted land, weaving a great tapestry of historical, cultural, and personal anecdotes along the way. Bryson chronicles his visits to the final resting place of George Everest, a native of Greenwich or Wales (depending upon whom you believe), after whom the Himalayan mountain is misnamed and mispronounced, and his return to Holloway Sanitorium, recalling how the inmates were allowed to roam freely into the nearby town. He expounds on why London is the best city in the world and nominates Oxford as the most pleasant and improved city in Britain, Lytham as the best small town in the north of England, and Morecambe Bay as Britain's most beautiful bay. En route, we meet myriad colorful historical figures, including an esteemed Nobel laureate who took a side job as a gardener and a Scottish marmalade heir/sexual adventurer who restored the stones at Avebury. Bryson takes a stand against litterbugs and those who would build on London's Green Belt, and he delves into the history and methodology of British road numbering and the evolution of holiday camps. No words are minced or punches pulled where he finds social decline; he rails against indifferent British shopkeepers and indulges in more than one violent fantasy. However, the majority of his criticisms bear his signature wit, and the bulk of his love/hate relationship with Britain falls squarely on the love side. Anglophiles will find Bryson's field notes equally entertaining and educational.

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Starred review from December 1, 2015
There's a whole lot of went to a charming little village named Bloke-on-Weed, had a look around, a cup of tea, and moved on in Bryson's most recent toddle around Britain. Writing 20 years after his best-selling Notes from a Small Island, Bryson concocts another trip through his homeland of 40 years by determining the longest distance one could travel in Britain in a straight line. Teeming with historical, geographical, and biographical trivia about people with improbable names, such as Oliver Heaviside, and esoteric endeavors, such as the Ashmolean Museum, Bryson showcases both the quotidian and the quirky. 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 salesclerks. 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. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The best-selling Bryson's fans will queue up for his latest cheering travel adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

February 1, 2016

Bryson (A Walk in the Woods) complements his expansive repertoire with a revisit of Great Britain, reflecting on his experiences over the past several decades as a British immigrant as he travels "The Bryson Line" from southern England to the northernmost point of Scotland. With his trademark wit, the author ponders the size of Britain, the mysteries of the London Underground, the county system, and the model community of Motopia. He brings readers along as he walks with his trusty Ordnance Survey map in hand through the English countryside visiting well- and lesser-known museums and parks. He questions the spending and conservation habits of the National Trust as well as the building practices of the British motorway system and is always honest, whether noting the beauty of the countryside or the neglected and diminishing seaside towns. Bryson never holds back his evaluation of the pitfalls of Britain. VERDICT Fans of Bryson will welcome his reconsideration of Britain and all its quirks. Armchair travelers will enjoy this jaunt through the country. [See Prepub Alert, 7/27/15.]--Lacy S. Wolfe, Ouachita Baptist Univ. Lib. Arkadelphia, AR

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2015

Remember Notes from a Small Island, which the American-born Bryson published in 1996 to celebrate that snatch of land--oh, you know, England--where he had spent much of his adult life? That book was a good-bye before moving his family back to America. They returned in 2003, and here Bryson genially rediscovers his adopted homeland.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.