Rating: 
Summary: We love you Bill but you let us down
Review: I am a Byson fan so I was somewhat disappointed with "Notes". I usually enjoy Bill's sense of humour but this time he kept descending to mockery. I think this was mainly in a desperate attempt to appear funny to the British readers who have a dark and sarcastic wit but he overdid this, became repetitive, and lost his own lighter voice. I am British so I did enjoy the truthful descriptions of some lesser known areas of the country which I'm sure would be interesting for Anglophiles. However Bill, you kept getting a bit lazy didn't you? Just dashing from the train and up the high-street of numerous British towns is hardly very challenging or worthwhile. I also find it hard to believe that in 6 or 7 weeks you only managed to speak to about 10 people, you never struck me as anti-social before now. Scotland and Wales barely featured except to be patronized. However, I have a real affection for you starting with "The Lost Continent" which is a great travel read, so I know I'll keep buying everything you produce. I love all your anecdotes about language and local history. You have also sussed the British, having taken the plunge and married a British woman (who can blame you), so your observations are accurate and very funny. It is true for example that the British like nothing better than "a good laugh". The greatest sin in Britain is for a person to take themselves too seriously and you are a social outcast if you cannot laugh at yourself (or refuse to buy your round). So its correct to say "Watch any two Britons in conversation and see how long it is before they smile or laugh over a joke or pleasantry". It's also true that British rail is good fodder for many of those national jokes.We are also a very weird nation and rejoice in eccentricity which can become very irritating for the traveller and which Bill conveys well. To be fair, this book is a good introduction for the uninitiated to Britain but has many glaring gaps and runs out of energy halfway through, along with Bill as he puffs up and down yet another high-street
Rating: 
Summary: How do I join the Bill Bryson Fan Club?
Review: I seldom laugh out loud; no, I NEVER laugh out loud, but while reading this book, I thought they'd throw me off the train. Put it in your shopping cart, proceed to checkout, then wait impatiently by your mailbox for the funniest book you'll ever read
Rating:
Summary: Discover Bill Bryson
Review: Do yourself a favour and discover Bill Bryson. Start the journey with The Lost Continent where Bill explains at the beginnig "I Come from Des Moins- someone had to! And follow him around the U.S. as he rediscovers places from his past when he saw everything from the back seat of his family's station wagon then continue the journey with the halarious Neither Here Nor There as he travels through Europe.
Notes from a Small Island is like the end of his journey and as much as he laughs at the English they have become a part of him.
Bill Bryson is one of those rare authors who can make you laugh out loud on a crowded bus.
Rating: 
Summary: Bloody hell! Are we really like this
Review: The best (and the worst) thing about this book is the realization that yes, in large part, we are just as Bill describes us. The book turns on a sixpence from being killingly hilarious as you wonder what planet this weird American is actually from as he commits some outrageous faux pas to the sudden realization that he has us bang to rights on some point or another.
For example, as a people we really do like a nice cup of tea, and the best route from A to B really is a valid topic of conversation down the pub...
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: This book was incredible! I am an avid reader of travel tales and have certainly read more poetic and descriptive works but....for humor, wit, and an excellent glimpse into the eccentricities of the British, this was wonderful. I don't think I have ever laughed this hard when reading a book as I did while reading this. Bill brings up things that all anglophiles have often secretly wondered at about Britain and the British but were afraid to ask. I have already recommended it to several friends and all are thoroughy enjoying it. A must read..
Rating:
Summary: HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Review: If you haven't read a Bryson book before then you're in for a lot of catching up. He has quite an addictive style and as a travel writer will take his loyal readers to the ends of the earth. Unfortunately he doesn't always remember to bring them back. Bill Bryson writes like a sort of Clive James without the political edge. If you don't know who Clive James is, he's like Bryson but with politics! This book is a freewheeling and fairly rapid take on the many idiosyncracies of the inhabitants of Great Britain. Bryson is an anglo-american with enough wit to see the foibles of both his parent cultures and the style to juxtapose them. He is a brillant author with an eye for the ironic and bitter sweet. This book won't disappoint established fans. It is Bill at his best, the amiable yarn spinning uncle who doesn't mind using a few words and stories that you wouldn't dare share with your mother! Indeed, if you have an amiable, yarn spinning uncle, then this would be just the sort of book to give him for Christmas. Bryson is a charming and often funny storyteller. He would be a pleasure to sit next to on a long haul flight. But make sure that he's sitting in Business Class. Bill is a man who likes his home comforts. In fact, sometimes his writing gives the impression that he'd really rather be at home in front of the fire with the wife and kids. It is this trait that makes him so likeable but also means that this book and several others end rather rapidly, with less anecdotes and more brief "been there, tick that town off on the itinerary" type comments. Unfortunately this means that Scotland which came last on his "circumnavigation" of the British Isles got rather a poor showing. However, it is hard to be brilliant all the time, and Bryson is nearly always so. As far as "Notes from a Small Island" goes, buy it, read it and pass it on to your uncle. Don't show it to your mother...she won't understand. And anyway she'll probably feel sorry for this poor man travelling alone writing about some of the most interesting and funny things that I've ever read about.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful!
Review: After reading it I felt as if I had taken a trip in England
Rating:
Summary: Biting yet compassionate, Bryson skewers his first love.
Review: Bryson does it again with a biting yet affectionate look
at his first love: Great Britain. I can think of no greater
compliment for a travel writer than to send this reader in
search of more and more Bryson. He skewers his beloved isle
with the double-edged sword of wit and sarcasm then lovingly
heals all his mortal strokes with a balm of hilarious affection.
If your angle is anglo, you'll love this book. Anecdotal
to the inth degree, it's a mercilessly meandering tour of
one of the world's best-loved destinations.
Rating:
Summary: We love you Bill but you let us down
Review: I am a Byson fan so I was somewhat disappointed with "Notes". I usually enjoy Bill's sense of humour but this time he kept descending to mockery. I think this was mainly in a desperate attempt to appear funny to the British readers who have a dark and sarcastic wit but he overdid this, became repetitive, and lost his own lighter voice. I am British so I did enjoy the truthful descriptions of some lesser known areas of the country which I'm sure would be interesting for Anglophiles. However Bill, you kept getting a bit lazy didn't you? Just dashing from the train and up the high-street of numerous British towns is hardly very challenging or worthwhile. I also find it hard to believe that in 6 or 7 weeks you only managed to speak to about 10 people, you never struck me as anti-social before now. Scotland and Wales barely featured except to be patronized. However, I have a real affection for you starting with "The Lost Continent" which is a great travel read, so I know I'll keep buying everything you produce. I love all your anecdotes about language and local history. You have also sussed the British, having taken the plunge and married a British woman (who can blame you), so your observations are accurate and very funny. It is true for example that the British like nothing better than "a good laugh". The greatest sin in Britain is for a person to take themselves too seriously and you are a social outcast if you cannot laugh at yourself (or refuse to buy your round). So its correct to say "Watch any two Britons in conversation and see how long it is before they smile or laugh over a joke or pleasantry". It's also true that British rail is good fodder for many of those national jokes.We are also a very weird nation and rejoice in eccentricity which can become very irritating for the traveller and which Bill conveys well. To be fair, this book is a good introduction for the uninitiated to Britain but has many glaring gaps and runs out of energy halfway through, along with Bill as he puffs up and down yet another high-street
Rating:
Summary: Worth the read.
Review: I'm a Bryson fan, and I enjoyed this book a great deal. I did not think it measured up to 'A Walk In the Woods', or even his latest ('Brief History'), but it is a solid book. There are few authors which can literally make me laugh out loud, and Bryson is one of those. For this, he is worth the price of admission. The book is basically a summary of Bryson going from town to town in Britain and a chronicle of his general impressions of each area. His impressions are highly subjective, which is part of his charm. He has a cynical wit that I just love. However, my big beef with this book was that it seemed after a while as if he was saying, "And then I went here...and then I went here...' over and over again. This became a bit annoying after a while. As I said though, there are few travelogue writers as talented as Bryson. I might opt for the two aforementioned books first if just getting into Bryson, but sooner or later you should check this one out.
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