Bill Bryson’s latest book is subtitled More Notes from a Small Island, and, as he cheerily admits early on, the major reason for a follow-up to his bestselling travel book was a commercial one. Not that this sequel doesn’t have its fair share of surprises; Bryson, now in his 60s, has become grouchier with age, and opportunities to criticise the imbecility of those he encounters or observes (including book reviewers) are not missed. At one point, he muses: “In countless small ways the world around us grows gradually shittier… I don’t like it at all.”
Thankfully Bryson is too engaging and witty a writer to turn his latest tour of Britain into a dirge. A sharper editorial hand might have trimmed the repetition – there is a surfeit of incidents in which Bryson has a pint too many in obscure pubs – but his millions of readers will probably enjoy this just as much as its predecessor.
The Road to Little Dribbling is published by Doubleday (£20). Click here to order it for £12.99
