Notes from a Small Island (Audiobook)

Bryson, Bill; Shale, Kerry

3.91 out of 5 stars

114,344 ratings by Goodreads

9780552143684: Notes from a Small Island (Audiobook)

ISBN 10: 0552143685 ISBN 13: 9780552143684

Publisher: Corgi Audio, 1995

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After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson, the acclaimed author of such bestsellers as "The Mother Tongue" and "Made in America", decided it was time to move back to the United States for a while. This was partly to let his wife and kids experience life in Bryson's homeland - and partly because he had read that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another. It was thus clear to him that his people needed him. But before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire, Bryson insisted on taking one last trip around Britain, a sort of valedictory tour of the green and kindly island that had so long been his home. His aim was to take stock of modern-day Britain, and to analyze what he loved so much about a country that had produced Marmite, zebra crossings, and place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey, and Shellow Bowells. With wit and irreverence, Bill Bryson presents the ludicrous and the endearing in equal measure. The result is a social commentary that conveys the true glory of Britain.

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Review

Bill Bryson is an unabashed Anglophile who, through a mistake of history, happened to be born and bred in Iowa. Righting that error, he spent 20 years in England before deciding to repatriate: "I had recently read that 3.7 million Americans according to a Gallup poll, believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another, so it was clear that my people needed me." That comic tone enlivens this account of Bryson's farewell walking tour of the countryside of "the green and kindly island that had for two decades been my home."

Review

"Not a book that should be read in public, for fear of emitting loud snorts" (The Times)

"Laugh-out-loud funny" (The Good Book Guide)

"Splendid... What's enjoyable is that there's as much of Bryson in here as there is of Britain" (Sunday Telegraph)

"Bryson is funny because he is not afraid to give completely of himself" (Daily Express)

"Astute and funny...a tribute to [Britain's] enchantments by an unabashed anglophile." (New York Times)

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