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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
August 1, 2016 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781510035362
- File size: 401983 KB
- Duration: 13:57:27
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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If you harbor a secret disappointment that Bill Bryson doesn't read this sequel of sorts to NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND, rest assured--Nathan Osgood does a fine job channeling the slightly grouchy but nevertheless charming author. Osgood is outraged, droll, tolerant, or positively gushing when the text demands it. It isn't the places that Bryson visits around Britain--from bottom to top but otherwise randomly here and there--that stick with the listener, although his rapture at the splendid beauty of the countryside will. It's the people that Bryson meets and his reactions to them that remain etched in one's brain. Particularly hilarious is his wrath at rude English shopkeepers, an elderly woman who refuses to clean up after her dog, and architects with plans to pave over famous greenspaces. A.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine -
December 21, 2015
Bryson returns to his adopted country of Britain to revisit some of his favorite sites in this followup to his bestselling Notes from a Small Island, published in 1996. He discovers that some of these places, like Dorset, a coastal city Bryson describes as "rolling perfection," remain relatively unchanged, while others have changed for better or worse. He reports that Manchester, a city he took to task in his earlier effort, has improved, though many of his compliments are backhanded. As usual, he scatters an entertaining mix of wacky anecdotes and factoids (e.g., during an eight-week period in 2009, four people in Britain were fatally trampled by cows) throughout, but his enduring mix of wonder and irascibility is what carries readers through his travels. His wry observations and self-deprecating humor keep him from coming off as a bitter cynic, and his lyrical way with words keeps the pages turning.
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