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.

Bryson has gotten a bit too cranky.

I've read almost everything Bryson's written. This one was disappointing. In this book, Bryson complains a lot about a lot of things, many of which shouldn't bother him to the extent they appear to. He also seems a bit out of touch, for example when he asserts that running marathons to raise money for charity is common in England but wholly foreign to Americans. The audio book would have probably been helped if Bryson had read it himself. The man chosen to read in his place is too severe.

Okay, but lots of complaining

As others have said, spends half of the book complaining about things. As someone considering a trip to Britain, it made me think it would just not be worth the hassle. Too much traffic, all the good stuff is gone, according to Bryson. Why travel if you hate it so much?

Disappointing

I have been a big Bryson fan for many years so awaited this new volume with great anticipation. In my opinion, it did not deliver. First we have a narrator who cannot pronounce some of the place names in the book - Bill Bryson is the best narrator for his own books. More importantly, however, there is something missing in the whole tome of the book. Yes, there are some funny bits, but there is too much complaining and making fun of people for my liking. I got to the end but I won't be listening to it again - and will think twice about buying another Bill Bryson book.

Not as good as other Bryson titles

I much prefer that Bryson read his own books, those are definitely my favorites. And this book seemed less entertaining overall. Stick with A Brief History of Nearly Everything or his Collector's Edition.

Love everything BB.

Loved it all, story, travelogue, humor, voice, as I do all his audible books. Good for every mood. Ready to listen to all of them again.