The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island

Twenty years after the publication of his British travelog, Notes from a Small Island, Bryson has written a sequel. He discourses on the quirkiness of the British highway system, excellence of British universities, glories of the English countryside, magnificence of Durham Cathedral, paleologic secrets of the Dorset Coast, and heroism of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in Cornwall and worries that the green belt surrounding London faces threats from developers. He turns curmudgeonly, using surprisingly salty language, when describing the indifference of shopkeepers and the general decline in civility of walkers. He castigates museums that are more food court than exhibit space. He is especially disgusted with the lack of basic grammar and punctuation in print media. Nathan Osgood brings an understated wryness to the narration with just enough use of local accents to be engaging. Musical interludes add charm.