And what a delightful book it is. I was helpless with laughter by page two, which is a record for me, even for a Bill Bryson book. I'm not suggesting you'll be screaming with laughter throughout the whole thing, but I will say that it would be prudent to exercise caution if you are drinking hot liquids while reading The Road to Little Dribbling.
In 1995, Bill Bryson wrote Notes from a Small Island, in which he traveled around the UK, mostly by public transportation, and wrote hilariously about his mishaps. The book is partly a love letter to his adopted country and its beauties and also a massive rant about the stupid urban planning that is destroying Great Britain's architectural and natural treasures. The Road to Little Dribbling is much in the same vein. Bryson travels around this UK, although this time, instead of traveling the circumference, he sticks (loosely) to the environs of the "Bryson Line" - the furthest distance you can drive in a straight line from one end of Great Britain to the other.
On this trip, Bryson revisits a few of the places he went to in Notes from a Small Island, but mostly he goes to new places, so the material is new, although the rants - terrible traffic engineering, bad urban planning, stupidity in general - are the same. One of the things that Bryson does well is to associate places with the obscure notables who once lived there. He is often keen to see a particular town because some person you've never heard of, but who made an important, yet under-appreciated or uncredited contribution to civilization once lived (or died) there. Thus, you find yourself collecting enormous amounts of trivial knowledge as you read.
I think you will enjoy The Road to Little Dribbling, but I should mention that a friend of mine also just read it and she felt that Bryson is unnecessarily rude and nasty in his rants. She also didn't like his schtick that he's just a bumbling fool who needs the constant supervision of his saintly wife. I agree that men who infantilize themselves are annoying and it also did occur to me a few times that Bryson might at times be unpleasant to service people he encounters. He also made the somewhat hurtful comment that all IT people are heartless spawn of Satan, or similar. As an IT person, I took exception to that. Perhaps he is exaggerating for effect? If you've read this book, let me know what you think.
I think you will enjoy The Road to Little Dribbling, but I should mention that a friend of mine also just read it and she felt that Bryson is unnecessarily rude and nasty in his rants. She also didn't like his schtick that he's just a bumbling fool who needs the constant supervision of his saintly wife. I agree that men who infantilize themselves are annoying and it also did occur to me a few times that Bryson might at times be unpleasant to service people he encounters. He also made the somewhat hurtful comment that all IT people are heartless spawn of Satan, or similar. As an IT person, I took exception to that. Perhaps he is exaggerating for effect? If you've read this book, let me know what you think.