Name: Bill Bryson - The Complete Notes (2nd Hand Paperback)
Brand: Campsie Books
SKU: B002923
Price: 3.2 GBP
Availability: InStock

Bill Bryson - The Complete Notes (2nd Hand Paperback)

SKU B002923

Availability:

1 available

£3.20 - £3.20

£3.20

£3.20 - £3.20

£3.20

Synopsis

Notes from a Small Island & Notes from a Big Country.

Notes from a Small Island.

In 1995 Bill Bryson got into his car and took a weeks-long farewell motoring trip about Britain before moving his family back to the United States. Before leaving his much-loved home in North Yorkshire, Bryson insisted on this 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 analyse 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.”

The book about that trip, Notes from a Small Island, is uproarious and endlessly endearing, one of the most acute and affectionate portrayals of Britain in all its glorious eccentricity ever written.

Notes from a Big Country.

Subtitled : A Journey into The American Dream.

Bill Bryson has the rare knack of being out of his depth wherever he goes - even (perhaps especially) in the land of his birth. This became all too apparent when, after nearly two decades in England, the world's best-loved travel writer upped sticks with Mrs Bryson, little Jimmy et al. and returned to live in the country he had left as a youth.

Of course there were things Bryson missed about Blighty but any sense of loss was countered by the joy of rediscovering some of the forgotten treasures of his childhood: the glories of a New England autumn; the pleasingly comical sight of oneself in shorts; and motel rooms where you can generally count on being awakened in the night by a piercing shriek and the sound of a female voice pleading, 'Put the gun down, Vinnie, I'll do anything you say.'

Whether discussing the strange appeal of breakfast pizza or the jaw-slackening direness of American TV, Bill Bryson brings his inimitable brand of bemused wit to bear on that strangest of phenomena - the American way of life.

Details

Format : Thick 2nd Hand Paperback
Condition : Very Good
Category : Non-Fiction - Travel & Guidebooks
Published : 2000 (This Edition 2009 - Black Swan)
ISBN : 9780552776233
SKU : B002923
PPC : SP500gm
RRP : £9.99
Quantity Available : 1 only.

External Reviews

'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.' - The Sunday Telegraph.

'Bryson is funny because he is not afraid to give completely of himself.' - The Daily Express.

'Astute and funny . . . a tribute to Britain's enchantments by an unabashed anglophile.' - The New York Times.

"Bill Bryson's answer to Alistair Cooke's Letter From America . . . not only hilarious but also insightful and informative." - Independent on Sunday.

"Bryson is great when explaining the idiosyncrasies of America to middle England and making it funny . . . He is both serious and contemptuously funny." - The Guardian.

The Author

Bill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1951. His bestselling books include The Road to Little Dribbling, Notes from a Small Island, A Walk in the Woods, One Summer and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid. In a national poll, Notes from a Small Island was voted the book that best represents Britain.

Featured Author . . . Bill Bryson