Notes from a Small Island - Softcover

Bryson, Bill

  • 3.92 out of 5 stars
    118,907 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780771017049: Notes from a Small Island
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0771017049 ISBN 13: 9780771017049
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, 1998

Synopsis

After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson made the decision to move back to the States for a while, to let his kids experience life in another country, to give his wife the chance to shop until 10 p.m. seven nights a week, and, most of all, because he had read that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another, and 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 for so long been his home. His aim was to take stock of the nation’s public face and private parts (as it were), and to analyze what precisely it was he loved about a country that had produced Marmite, a military hero whose dying wish was to be kissed by a fellow named Hardy, place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey, and Shellow Bowells, people who said “Mustn’t grumble,” and shows like “Gardener’s Question Time.”

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

When The Lost Continent was published in 1989, Bill Bryson’s savagely funny account of his journey back to his roots in small-town U.S.A. took the reading public by a storm of guffaws. It was followed by Neither Here Nor There, in which Bryson applied his unique brand of wry humour to the foibles of Continental Europe and the Europeans.

From the Back Cover

“Bill Bryson is a funny writer…doubled over belly shakes and seltzer through the nose funny.”
–Globe and Mail

“The year’s best travel book…funny and witty and truthful.”
–Toronto Sun

“The funniest book I read this year – winded by its humor, tears on the cheeks.”
–Ottawa Citizen

“Bryson is first and foremost a storyteller – and a supremely comic and original one at that.”
–Winnipeg Free Press

From the Inside Flap

After nearly two decades in Britain, Bill Bryson made the decision to move back to the States for a while, to let his kids experience life in another country, to give his wife the chance to shop until 10 p.m. seven nights a week, and, most of all, because he had read that 3.7 million Americans believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another, and 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 for so long been his home. His aim was to take stock of the nation?s public face and private parts (as it were), and to analyze what precisely it was he loved about a country that had produced Marmite, a military hero whose dying wish was to be kissed by a fellow named Hardy, place names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey, and Shellow Bowells, people who said ?Mustn?t grumble,? and shows like ?Gardener?s Question Time.?

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
McClelland & Stewart
Publication date
1998
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0771017049
ISBN 13 
9780771017049
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
288
Rating
  • 3.92 out of 5 stars
    118,907 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781784161194: Notes from a small island

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  1784161195 ISBN 13:  9781784161194
Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE UK, 2015
Softcover