The Road to Little Dribbling

Adventures of an American in Britain

By: Bill Bryson

Narrated by: Nathan Osgood

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. 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.

Can't even make it through due to horrible reading

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Whose idea was it to have Nathan Osgood narrate this book? Horrible reading. All humor lost in the narration. I have read every book Bill has written, and was anxiously awaiting this release. Point blank this reading does him a horrible disservice.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Nathan Osgood?

Bill is by far the best at reading his own books. PLEASE have him read it.

Disappointed

I miss Bill's narration. This reader did not do the book justice. Find someone else!

Thank heaven it’s NOT read by Bryson himself

Unlike most of the commenters here, I’m glad this book is narrated by someone other than Bryson. Normally I’d prefer to hear an author read his own work, but — I know this is a minority view — Bryson is one of the worst readers I’ve ever heard. His rendition of his book “At Home” was so bad that I had to stop listening. As a Midwesterner transplanted to England, his accent is a shifting mixture of the two; he starts off sounding like a corn-fed American, then throws in a tortured, phony-sounding British pronunciation of one or two words (especially ones with a long O — “home,” “show,” etc.), like a kid in a high school play pretending to be a rather snooty Brit. The effect is creepy and, to my mind, quite chilling.

That aside, he is a wonderfully entertaining writer, and I’ve enjoyed a number of his books. However, for the first time, I've begun to suspect that he’s not a particularly nice guy.

In fact, “Little Dribbling” is surprisingly sour. Make that VERY sour. This region-by-region travelogue veers between heartfelt praise for the beauties of the British landscape, pats on the head for various quaint shops, pubs, and restaurants that have pleased Bryson, and rather mean-spirited accounts of his interactions with assorted cashiers, ticket sellers, bartenders, shop assistants, waiters, and service people in general who’ve annoyed him. True, they do tend to come across as stupid, rude, and obtuse, and maybe they deserve his snarky, rather grumpy comments; but after the dozenth time, this routine of his — “I may be an old curmudgeon, but I’m surrounded by idiots, and the service in this country has gone downhill” — grows wearisome, and he sounds like a Yelp member who enjoys handing out bad reviews. (As an expatriate, he also never misses a chance to ridicule ignorant Americans.)

Curiously, Nathan Osgood’s performance makes Bryson sound all the snarkier. Osgood speaks as an American, but when giving voice to the humble service personnel the author has encountered in his travels, he gives them exaggeratedly dumb, low-class British accents. Maybe that’s exactly how Bryson would want it, I don’t know. Osgood certainly emphasizes, in his delivery, Bryson's aggrieved, scornful, short-tempered side.

Beyond this, it’s also a rather depressing book, leaving the impression that the Britain I’ve loved and revered has pretty much vanished forever. Aside from good hiking trails, scenic rural vistas, and some quaint old business establishments, it sounds as if the best things in Britain have closed up, gone under, been replaced, or become shabby, litter-strewn, overcrowded, or ridiculously overpriced. (P.S. A friend recently informed me that virtually all the second-hand book shops on Charing Cross Road are gone.)

I did listen to the whole audiobook and, as with other Bryson books, found a few chuckles and some interesting historical facts. But overall “Little Dribbling" was — perhaps as intended — something of a downer.

WishBryson had narrated it himself

But overall a delightful, and occasionally laugh-out-loud read. Made me want to visit the same places. A nice follow-up to Small Island and Home.

Brilliant!

This travel book is full of with humor and anecdotes. It makes you laugh and think simultaneously.