Europe: it's funnier than you might suppose, 03 Feb 2007
Every so often, flicking through the BBC radio stations, I've hit Kerry Shale or Bill Bryson reading from one of Bill's books. At that point I stop flicking and sit and listen. The furrow disappears from my brow and a smile appears on my face. The smile ratchets up into a grin and from time to time a laugh erupts. It happens every time Bill Bryson's thoughts and adventures come out of my radio. But I'm no longer prepared to toggle back and forth between BBC radio 4 and BBC radio 7 just hoping for a bit of Bill Bryson. I commenced a search for an audiobook and found this. Instead of the usual 10 to 20 minute snatch of radio broadcast, I've listened to a full 6 hours, on 5 discs and achieved a serene sense of having been entertained for long, blissful, uninterrupted acres of time. I've travelled from Hammerfest in Norway via France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia and lots of places in between, to end up in Turkey - and seen, heard, smelled and tasted the places and met the people through his descriptions. He's a terrible mickey-taker but still conveys a reasonably positive impression of most of the people he encounters. Even where the people seem a bit sullen and unhelpful there are reasons supplied (usually). For example, the folks in Yugoslavia had been struggling to make even a modest living and had little enough to smile about at the time of his visit. In any case, the main victim of his barbed humour through the whole journey is himself. He soaks up the splendour and atmosphere of the fabulous places he stays, points out their faults, extols the virtues of the peoples and enthusiastically recounts their absurdities. He was only truly scathing about the people of one country and, although I haven't travelled very much, it was one of the few countries I'd actually visited (school skiing holiday many years ago) and I found those people very nice. That just goes to show that you have to take people as you find them, enjoy this audiobook for its entertainment value and not base your beliefs about whole nations on the behaviour of a few (probably) unrepresentative individuals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it. And now I'm off to choose my next Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent or Notes from a Small Island ... can't quite decide yet ...


Often hysterically funny and quite acerbic, 15 Dec 2005
Bryson isn't your typical travel author. He makes an effort to describe the places he visits, but does so in broad strokes. It's like an impressionist painting more than any attempt at detailed realism. He spends 1/3 of his time on the history of the places he visits and it's contemporary reality, 1/3 of his time on what sees and experiences, and 1/3 of his time on how he interprets what he sees as a confused foreigner.

For example, Bryson often goes on at length about the architecture of a building he loves or hates. He'll then describe when such building was erected and how it has been treated over the years since. Then ruminate briefly on how he can't understand the host nation's predeliction for building carparks so as to most efficently despoil an area's natural beauty. He'll finish up by wondering how such perverse actions are the nature of humanity.

Bryson writes with incredible ease, an incredible self-deprecating humor, a lust for travel and new adventures, and an overall wonder of the world around him. You get the impression he's just happy to be alive and could write with joy regarding his most recent attempt to buy chewing gum.

Some people Bill Bryson obnoxious and offensive. But if you like sarcastic and droll humor you'll love Neither Here Nor There.

Bill Bryson is an unabashed Anglophile who, through a mistake of history, happened to be born and bred in Iowa. Righting that error, he spent 20 years in England before deciding to repatriate: "I had recently read that 3.7 million Americans according to a Gallup poll, believed that they had been abducted by aliens at one time or another, so it was clear that my people needed me." That comic tone enlivens this account of Bryson's farewell walking tour of the countryside of "the green and kindly island that had for two decades been my home."

Europe: it's funnier than you might suppose, 03 Feb 2007
Every so often, flicking through the BBC radio stations, I've hit Kerry Shale or Bill Bryson reading from one of Bill's books. At that point I stop flicking and sit and listen. The furrow disappears from my brow and a smile appears on my face. The smile ratchets up into a grin and from time to time a laugh erupts. It happens every time Bill Bryson's thoughts and adventures come out of my radio. But I'm no longer prepared to toggle back and forth between BBC radio 4 and BBC radio 7 just hoping for a bit of Bill Bryson. I commenced a search for an audiobook and found this. Instead of the usual 10 to 20 minute snatch of radio broadcast, I've listened to a full 6 hours, on 5 discs and achieved a serene sense of having been entertained for long, blissful, uninterrupted acres of time. I've travelled from Hammerfest in Norway via France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia and lots of places in between, to end up in Turkey - and seen, heard, smelled and tasted the places and met the people through his descriptions. He's a terrible mickey-taker but still conveys a reasonably positive impression of most of the people he encounters. Even where the people seem a bit sullen and unhelpful there are reasons supplied (usually). For example, the folks in Yugoslavia had been struggling to make even a modest living and had little enough to smile about at the time of his visit. In any case, the main victim of his barbed humour through the whole journey is himself. He soaks up the splendour and atmosphere of the fabulous places he stays, points out their faults, extols the virtues of the peoples and enthusiastically recounts their absurdities. He was only truly scathing about the people of one country and, although I haven't travelled very much, it was one of the few countries I'd actually visited (school skiing holiday many years ago) and I found those people very nice. That just goes to show that you have to take people as you find them, enjoy this audiobook for its entertainment value and not base your beliefs about whole nations on the behaviour of a few (probably) unrepresentative individuals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it. And now I'm off to choose my next Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent or Notes from a Small Island ... can't quite decide yet ...


Often hysterically funny and quite acerbic, 15 Dec 2005
Bryson isn't your typical travel author. He makes an effort to describe the places he visits, but does so in broad strokes. It's like an impressionist painting more than any attempt at detailed realism. He spends 1/3 of his time on the history of the places he visits and it's contemporary reality, 1/3 of his time on what sees and experiences, and 1/3 of his time on how he interprets what he sees as a confused foreigner.

For example, Bryson often goes on at length about the architecture of a building he loves or hates. He'll then describe when such building was erected and how it has been treated over the years since. Then ruminate briefly on how he can't understand the host nation's predeliction for building carparks so as to most efficently despoil an area's natural beauty. He'll finish up by wondering how such perverse actions are the nature of humanity.

Bryson writes with incredible ease, an incredible self-deprecating humor, a lust for travel and new adventures, and an overall wonder of the world around him. You get the impression he's just happy to be alive and could write with joy regarding his most recent attempt to buy chewing gum.

Some people Bill Bryson obnoxious and offensive. But if you like sarcastic and droll humor you'll love Neither Here Nor There.

Yawn, 25 Aug 2008
An aimless and tedious meander through British life as seen from an outsider's point of view. Some of this book is very funny but it is full of pointless anecdotes and inane drivel. This book is too long and much of it is instantly forgettable. Not good!

Nostalgic For Me!, 19 Aug 2008
Needing to clear some space on my bookshelves I have decided to reacquaint myself with Bill Bryson's travel books before Bookcrossing them.
This one was first published in 1995 and the edition on my bookshelf in 1998. I enjoyed reading this travelogue of his tour of the good old UK, many places mentioned of which I have visited during my lifetime. The amusing and often irreverent descriptions of familiar places and British habits were in some cases painfully accurate!
Whilst one might not always agree with Bryson's viewpoint it is none the less an amusing read, though one must also accept that in some respects it is dated.
Certainly worth reading if you are at all interested in Great Britain but remember it was written over thirteen years ago and it has changed even more!
Re-reading this made me quite nostalgic at times especially the last few pages and his concluding comments. Currently living away from Great Britain it gave me an interesting reminder of the things, good and bad, that are unique to that small island where I am proud to say I was born.



The yardstick, 02 Jul 2008
This is one of Bryson's very best and cements his place as the don of travel writing.
The quality and density of his writing, brimming as it is with curious facts and gags, make him simply unbeatable when it comes to this kind of travelogue.
Bryson's greatest skill is that he makes us want to follow him around often-dull and familiar corners of Britain, Europe, Australia and America.
If you're not a fan of the genre, steer clear. But if you like his style this is a must-have.
For those looking for a starting point for this type of travel book, this is as good a place to start as any.

better than expected read, 16 Jun 2008
Having read the reviews, mostly anti - I finished reading this book and was pleasantly surprised. It seems to me that Bill Bryson was writing about his impressions, feelings, emotions, call it what you will, as he toured this island of ours, and it came over as a love/hate relationship until the end, when he makes it quite clear he loves the place and will be back. I tuned in to his kind of off beat humour quite early and loved it. Definitely a lot of snorts of laughter and a lot of 'yes, recognise that' too.
An enjoyable read.


One arduous read., 24 Jan 2008
Whilst this is the first Bryson book I've finished (not the first of his I've attempted to read) it'll almost certainly be the last. I just don't get this guys popularity (a case of "The King's New Clothes" perhaps). It would've been much better if he'd integrated more with people he met on his travels and wrote about their thoughts rather than his own and his transparent exageration of mundane happenings in an effort towards being comical generally fell far short of the mark for me. He'd also benefit from occasionally choosing not to stay in accomodation he initially doesn't like the look of, but then this would leave him something short of to moan about. Disappointing.

Europe: it's funnier than you might suppose, 03 Feb 2007
Every so often, flicking through the BBC radio stations, I've hit Kerry Shale or Bill Bryson reading from one of Bill's books. At that point I stop flicking and sit and listen. The furrow disappears from my brow and a smile appears on my face. The smile ratchets up into a grin and from time to time a laugh erupts. It happens every time Bill Bryson's thoughts and adventures come out of my radio. But I'm no longer prepared to toggle back and forth between BBC radio 4 and BBC radio 7 just hoping for a bit of Bill Bryson. I commenced a search for an audiobook and found this. Instead of the usual 10 to 20 minute snatch of radio broadcast, I've listened to a full 6 hours, on 5 discs and achieved a serene sense of having been entertained for long, blissful, uninterrupted acres of time. I've travelled from Hammerfest in Norway via France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia and lots of places in between, to end up in Turkey - and seen, heard, smelled and tasted the places and met the people through his descriptions. He's a terrible mickey-taker but still conveys a reasonably positive impression of most of the people he encounters. Even where the people seem a bit sullen and unhelpful there are reasons supplied (usually). For example, the folks in Yugoslavia had been struggling to make even a modest living and had little enough to smile about at the time of his visit. In any case, the main victim of his barbed humour through the whole journey is himself. He soaks up the splendour and atmosphere of the fabulous places he stays, points out their faults, extols the virtues of the peoples and enthusiastically recounts their absurdities. He was only truly scathing about the people of one country and, although I haven't travelled very much, it was one of the few countries I'd actually visited (school skiing holiday many years ago) and I found those people very nice. That just goes to show that you have to take people as you find them, enjoy this audiobook for its entertainment value and not base your beliefs about whole nations on the behaviour of a few (probably) unrepresentative individuals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it. And now I'm off to choose my next Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent or Notes from a Small Island ... can't quite decide yet ...


Often hysterically funny and quite acerbic, 15 Dec 2005
Bryson isn't your typical travel author. He makes an effort to describe the places he visits, but does so in broad strokes. It's like an impressionist painting more than any attempt at detailed realism. He spends 1/3 of his time on the history of the places he visits and it's contemporary reality, 1/3 of his time on what sees and experiences, and 1/3 of his time on how he interprets what he sees as a confused foreigner.

For example, Bryson often goes on at length about the architecture of a building he loves or hates. He'll then describe when such building was erected and how it has been treated over the years since. Then ruminate briefly on how he can't understand the host nation's predeliction for building carparks so as to most efficently despoil an area's natural beauty. He'll finish up by wondering how such perverse actions are the nature of humanity.

Bryson writes with incredible ease, an incredible self-deprecating humor, a lust for travel and new adventures, and an overall wonder of the world around him. You get the impression he's just happy to be alive and could write with joy regarding his most recent attempt to buy chewing gum.

Some people Bill Bryson obnoxious and offensive. But if you like sarcastic and droll humor you'll love Neither Here Nor There.

Yawn, 25 Aug 2008
An aimless and tedious meander through British life as seen from an outsider's point of view. Some of this book is very funny but it is full of pointless anecdotes and inane drivel. This book is too long and much of it is instantly forgettable. Not good!

Nostalgic For Me!, 19 Aug 2008
Needing to clear some space on my bookshelves I have decided to reacquaint myself with Bill Bryson's travel books before Bookcrossing them.
This one was first published in 1995 and the edition on my bookshelf in 1998. I enjoyed reading this travelogue of his tour of the good old UK, many places mentioned of which I have visited during my lifetime. The amusing and often irreverent descriptions of familiar places and British habits were in some cases painfully accurate!
Whilst one might not always agree with Bryson's viewpoint it is none the less an amusing read, though one must also accept that in some respects it is dated.
Certainly worth reading if you are at all interested in Great Britain but remember it was written over thirteen years ago and it has changed even more!
Re-reading this made me quite nostalgic at times especially the last few pages and his concluding comments. Currently living away from Great Britain it gave me an interesting reminder of the things, good and bad, that are unique to that small island where I am proud to say I was born.



The yardstick, 02 Jul 2008
This is one of Bryson's very best and cements his place as the don of travel writing.
The quality and density of his writing, brimming as it is with curious facts and gags, make him simply unbeatable when it comes to this kind of travelogue.
Bryson's greatest skill is that he makes us want to follow him around often-dull and familiar corners of Britain, Europe, Australia and America.
If you're not a fan of the genre, steer clear. But if you like his style this is a must-have.
For those looking for a starting point for this type of travel book, this is as good a place to start as any.

better than expected read, 16 Jun 2008
Having read the reviews, mostly anti - I finished reading this book and was pleasantly surprised. It seems to me that Bill Bryson was writing about his impressions, feelings, emotions, call it what you will, as he toured this island of ours, and it came over as a love/hate relationship until the end, when he makes it quite clear he loves the place and will be back. I tuned in to his kind of off beat humour quite early and loved it. Definitely a lot of snorts of laughter and a lot of 'yes, recognise that' too.
An enjoyable read.


One arduous read., 24 Jan 2008
Whilst this is the first Bryson book I've finished (not the first of his I've attempted to read) it'll almost certainly be the last. I just don't get this guys popularity (a case of "The King's New Clothes" perhaps). It would've been much better if he'd integrated more with people he met on his travels and wrote about their thoughts rather than his own and his transparent exageration of mundane happenings in an effort towards being comical generally fell far short of the mark for me. He'd also benefit from occasionally choosing not to stay in accomodation he initially doesn't like the look of, but then this would leave him something short of to moan about. Disappointing.

Fun listening - you can hear the difference, 16 Mar 2004
This book contains more than you expect. Bill Bryson covers language its self with a focus on English. The book covers speech from a historical view, a physical view, an environmental view, a utilitarian view, and many other views. You will want to play the tape over again as it cruses through many concepts that leave you thinking and speculating how it could have all gone differently.
A highlight for me (aside from his dirty word list) was the recognition that we try to impose Old Latin syntaxes on Modern English and it can get reticules.
My only disappointment comes when he mentions things I have already read and gets it wrong or off the mark.
The advantage of the tape is that you actually hear the pronunciations. When it is a matter of spelling the reader will spell it out for you. Also the reader has the ability to change accents to fit the dialect samples.
The disadvantage is when you want to turn back to a particular page for cross-reference; there is no page to turn. So I would be smart to won both versions.

Europe: it's funnier than you might suppose, 03 Feb 2007
Every so often, flicking through the BBC radio stations, I've hit Kerry Shale or Bill Bryson reading from one of Bill's books. At that point I stop flicking and sit and listen. The furrow disappears from my brow and a smile appears on my face. The smile ratchets up into a grin and from time to time a laugh erupts. It happens every time Bill Bryson's thoughts and adventures come out of my radio. But I'm no longer prepared to toggle back and forth between BBC radio 4 and BBC radio 7 just hoping for a bit of Bill Bryson. I commenced a search for an audiobook and found this. Instead of the usual 10 to 20 minute snatch of radio broadcast, I've listened to a full 6 hours, on 5 discs and achieved a serene sense of having been entertained for long, blissful, uninterrupted acres of time. I've travelled from Hammerfest in Norway via France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia and lots of places in between, to end up in Turkey - and seen, heard, smelled and tasted the places and met the people through his descriptions. He's a terrible mickey-taker but still conveys a reasonably positive impression of most of the people he encounters. Even where the people seem a bit sullen and unhelpful there are reasons supplied (usually). For example, the folks in Yugoslavia had been struggling to make even a modest living and had little enough to smile about at the time of his visit. In any case, the main victim of his barbed humour through the whole journey is himself. He soaks up the splendour and atmosphere of the fabulous places he stays, points out their faults, extols the virtues of the peoples and enthusiastically recounts their absurdities. He was only truly scathing about the people of one country and, although I haven't travelled very much, it was one of the few countries I'd actually visited (school skiing holiday many years ago) and I found those people very nice. That just goes to show that you have to take people as you find them, enjoy this audiobook for its entertainment value and not base your beliefs about whole nations on the behaviour of a few (probably) unrepresentative individuals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it. And now I'm off to choose my next Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent or Notes from a Small Island ... can't quite decide yet ...


Often hysterically funny and quite acerbic, 15 Dec 2005
Bryson isn't your typical travel author. He makes an effort to describe the places he visits, but does so in broad strokes. It's like an impressionist painting more than any attempt at detailed realism. He spends 1/3 of his time on the history of the places he visits and it's contemporary reality, 1/3 of his time on what sees and experiences, and 1/3 of his time on how he interprets what he sees as a confused foreigner.

For example, Bryson often goes on at length about the architecture of a building he loves or hates. He'll then describe when such building was erected and how it has been treated over the years since. Then ruminate briefly on how he can't understand the host nation's predeliction for building carparks so as to most efficently despoil an area's natural beauty. He'll finish up by wondering how such perverse actions are the nature of humanity.

Bryson writes with incredible ease, an incredible self-deprecating humor, a lust for travel and new adventures, and an overall wonder of the world around him. You get the impression he's just happy to be alive and could write with joy regarding his most recent attempt to buy chewing gum.

Some people Bill Bryson obnoxious and offensive. But if you like sarcastic and droll humor you'll love Neither Here Nor There.

Yawn, 25 Aug 2008
An aimless and tedious meander through British life as seen from an outsider's point of view. Some of this book is very funny but it is full of pointless anecdotes and inane drivel. This book is too long and much of it is instantly forgettable. Not good!

Nostalgic For Me!, 19 Aug 2008
Needing to clear some space on my bookshelves I have decided to reacquaint myself with Bill Bryson's travel books before Bookcrossing them.
This one was first published in 1995 and the edition on my bookshelf in 1998. I enjoyed reading this travelogue of his tour of the good old UK, many places mentioned of which I have visited during my lifetime. The amusing and often irreverent descriptions of familiar places and British habits were in some cases painfully accurate!
Whilst one might not always agree with Bryson's viewpoint it is none the less an amusing read, though one must also accept that in some respects it is dated.
Certainly worth reading if you are at all interested in Great Britain but remember it was written over thirteen years ago and it has changed even more!
Re-reading this made me quite nostalgic at times especially the last few pages and his concluding comments. Currently living away from Great Britain it gave me an interesting reminder of the things, good and bad, that are unique to that small island where I am proud to say I was born.



The yardstick, 02 Jul 2008
This is one of Bryson's very best and cements his place as the don of travel writing.
The quality and density of his writing, brimming as it is with curious facts and gags, make him simply unbeatable when it comes to this kind of travelogue.
Bryson's greatest skill is that he makes us want to follow him around often-dull and familiar corners of Britain, Europe, Australia and America.
If you're not a fan of the genre, steer clear. But if you like his style this is a must-have.
For those looking for a starting point for this type of travel book, this is as good a place to start as any.

better than expected read, 16 Jun 2008
Having read the reviews, mostly anti - I finished reading this book and was pleasantly surprised. It seems to me that Bill Bryson was writing about his impressions, feelings, emotions, call it what you will, as he toured this island of ours, and it came over as a love/hate relationship until the end, when he makes it quite clear he loves the place and will be back. I tuned in to his kind of off beat humour quite early and loved it. Definitely a lot of snorts of laughter and a lot of 'yes, recognise that' too.
An enjoyable read.


One arduous read., 24 Jan 2008
Whilst this is the first Bryson book I've finished (not the first of his I've attempted to read) it'll almost certainly be the last. I just don't get this guys popularity (a case of "The King's New Clothes" perhaps). It would've been much better if he'd integrated more with people he met on his travels and wrote about their thoughts rather than his own and his transparent exageration of mundane happenings in an effort towards being comical generally fell far short of the mark for me. He'd also benefit from occasionally choosing not to stay in accomodation he initially doesn't like the look of, but then this would leave him something short of to moan about. Disappointing.

Fun listening - you can hear the difference, 16 Mar 2004
This book contains more than you expect. Bill Bryson covers language its self with a focus on English. The book covers speech from a historical view, a physical view, an environmental view, a utilitarian view, and many other views. You will want to play the tape over again as it cruses through many concepts that leave you thinking and speculating how it could have all gone differently.
A highlight for me (aside from his dirty word list) was the recognition that we try to impose Old Latin syntaxes on Modern English and it can get reticules.
My only disappointment comes when he mentions things I have already read and gets it wrong or off the mark.
The advantage of the tape is that you actually hear the pronunciations. When it is a matter of spelling the reader will spell it out for you. Also the reader has the ability to change accents to fit the dialect samples.
The disadvantage is when you want to turn back to a particular page for cross-reference; there is no page to turn. So I would be smart to won both versions.

Very enjoyable, 04 Jun 2008
This is a quirky but enjoyable book; Connelly sets himself the challenge of visiting all the areas of the Shipping Forecast that have a land mass within them over a year-long period. In doing so, his experiences are in turn funny, absurd, perceptive and informative. Various tales made me laugh out loud, particularly his experiences on his first port of call, where's he's unexpectedly at a party with a die-hard Liverpool fan who knows nothing about the geography of Liverpool. Some of the places he visits hold no appeal, but others, such as Lundy, are appealing and have whetted my curiosity. A good read, and an illuminating insight into one of radio's most iconic broadcasts.

Cromarty, westerly four, squally wintry showers, good, 16 Mar 2008
Four times daily, at 0048, 0535, 1201 and 1754, BBC Radio 4 airs the Shipping Forecast, a weather prognostication for each of thirty-one geographically well-defined but more or less arbitrarily designated and sited maritime areas surrounding the British Isles. What may be incomprehensible code to the uninitiated listener is actually a simple and frugaly worded forecasting statement divided into four parts: area name, wind direction and strength, weather conditions, and visibility.

The forebears of English author Charlie Connelly, a sportswriter of several books chiefly about European soccer, led lives touched by the sea. Yet, beyond a few ferry trips, Connelly, to his self-admitted embarrassment, was notably landlocked. Thus, to make up for his landlubberliness, he vowed to visit all thirty-one of the shipping forecast areas, or at least those that had peripheral or inclusive terra firma to stand upon, in a calendar year. In ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING, he tells us all about it via a congenial and humorous narrative.

Obviously, the book is more about interesting and/or out of the way places than the Shipping Forecast itself, though, by the end of chapter two, one has learned all that's necessary about the history, evolution, and value to sailors of the forecast, which dates, in its current form, back to 1924. In the eleven chapters that follow, Connelly makes landfall in twenty-five of the areas. Five (Viking, Forties, Dogger, Bailey, Rockall) he only flys or sails over. One, Trafalgar, down off the southwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula, he almost entirely neglects for no other reason than it's mentioned in only the 0048 bulletin. Otherwise, his meandering journey takes him to:

North and South Utsire: Utsira Island (Norway)
Cromarty: Cromarty (Scotland)
Forth: Arbroath (Scotland)
Tyne: Whitby (England)
Fisher: Hanstholm (Denmark)
German Bight: Sylt Island (Germany)
Humber: Cromer (England)
Thames: the Principality of Sealand
Dover: Dover and the White Cliffs (England)
Wight: the Isle of Wight (England)
Portland: Portland peninsula (England)
Plymouth: Plymouth (England)
Biscay: St-Jean-de-Luz (France) and Bilbao (Spain)
FitzRoy: Finisterre (Spain)
Sole: St. Mary's, St. Agnes, Tresco, and Bryher islands (Isles of Scilly, England)
Lundy: Lundy Island (England)
Fastnet: Cork and Cobh (Ireland)
Irish Sea: the Isle of Man
Shannon: Kilrush (Ireland)
Malin: Malin Head (Ireland)
Hebrides: Barra and Eriskay islands (Outer Hebrides, Scotland)
Fair Isle: Mainland and Fair Isle islands (Shetland Islands, Scotland)
Faeroes: Torshavn (Faeroe Islands, Denmark)
South-east Iceland: Heimay (Vestmannaeyjar, aka the Westman Islands, Iceland)

Charlie succeeds in making all his destinations interesting by sharing facets of each locale's history, events, or famous residents. For instance, Whitby was the hometown of Captain James Cook and Cromer that of Henry Blogg, renowned as the greatest lifeboatman who ever lived. Heimay was evacuated during a volcanic eruption. The oddest place is perhaps the Principality of Sealand, which was originally one of four World War II heavy gun platforms constructed in the Thames Estuary. After being abandoned by the British military, it was purchased by a private citizen who subsequently proclaimed it a sovereign state, a claim that, surprisingly, has been upheld by British courts. At the other extreme of novelty is Hanstholm, the Danish ferry port so excruciatingly boring that it's Connelly's account of fending off tedium for two days that is in itself droll. Even area Rockall, an expanse of open sea which Charlie doesn't visit for obvious reasons, contains Rockall "island", a mid-ocean protrusion of rock 89 feet in diameter and 72 in height that occupies a place of honor in the pantheon of the world's ludicrous territorial and political squabbles.

The author's commentary is so engaging that he can be forgiven the occasional factual misstatement. Charlie asserts that the lighthouse on Spain's Cape Finisterre is at "the end of the finger of land that is continental Europe's westernmost landfall", when, in fact, that honor belongs to Portugal's Cape Roca. Later, Connelly writes that "Fair Isle is actually Britain's remotest island community" when, actually, Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic is not only the most isolated British island community but also the most far-flung archipelago in the world. Regarding Fair Isle, I suspect that the author meant to say that it's the remotest community within territorial waters contiguous with the home islands.

ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING deserves 5 stars because it transports me in fine style to places that I shall likely never visit but, after reading this fascinating travelogue, wish I could some day. Then perhaps, I could express something similar to Charlie's experience:

"I was sorry to leave Scilly, a special part of the United Kingdom. Sit on the front at Hugh Town and look out beyond the palm trees across the clear azure water to the white sandy beaches of Tresco beyond and it's hard to believe that you're less than thirty miles from the English mainland ... when I think of that Hugh Town vista and then look out of my window at my south-east London Victorian terraced beehive of a street as I write this, I know where I'd rather be."

Good potentially interesting idea, let down by the poor writing style and writer's 'humour', 22 Oct 2007
I bought this book randomly, attracted by the cover and needing a third book in a three for the price of two offer. It is a good idea and this is potentially a very interesting book. However, it is badly let down by the writer's chatty style of prose which is highly annoying and adds nothing to the book but takes up more than half of the pages. He offers such banal, predictable insights into the different areas that it is painful to read. Its in a similar vein to Dave Gorman and the 'ooh arent I making humorous comments and being satirical' type of knowing humour; Mr Gorman however to a large extent carries it off, Connolley doesnt.

If this could be published without Connelly's insights and a few more facts it might be interesting but as it is I would not recommend this book.

Read this - Good, Don't read this - poor, 28 Oct 2006
Simply one of the best books I have ever read.

If you are an anal retentive or an anorak it might just appeal to you a bit more, but whatever you are there's something here for you. Perhaps my job (Export sales, so a lot of travelling) or my hobbies (flying and birdwatching) helped, but if I could be objective, I still think it was great.

Bill Bryson get your big fat US ass out of the way for Charlie Connelly.

Rob Sawyer




Goes down a storm, 16 Apr 2006
This was one of my surprisingly good reads of 2006. Having never heard the shipping news (well, consciously at any rate), this would never have been a first choice and I must admit to being a little dubious about receiving it as a gift.

The basic premise seems designed for retired sailors safely tucked under their lap blankets in an out of the way coastal town. The author, oddly intrigued by the shipping forecast since his youth, would spend a year travelling through each of the areas named in the forecast and give us a potted history of each. Not generally my cup of tea, particularly when some of these places have so little to offer your regular tourist that even the locals are surprised to see him.

However, Connelly's writing style clearly carries this concept. He is a brilliant observer of both people and places and kept me giggling away at even the most banal travelling mishaps. The book is packed with cringeworthy character studies, laugh out loud anecdotes and interesting local histories - all of which come together in an exceptionally good read.

While I have no inclination to visit many of the places on Connelly's travels, I am at least now better informed as to why that might be and definitely have admiration for an author who can find so much of interest in even the most banal of places. Definitely worth a read.

Bill Bryson has made a living out of travelling and then writing about it. In The Lost Continent he re-created the road trips of his childhood; in Neither Here nor There he retraced the route he followed as a young backpacker traversing Europe. When this American transplant to Britain decided to return home, he made a farewell walking tour of the British countryside and produced Notes from a Small Island. Once back on American soil and safely settled in New Hampshire, Bryson once again hears the siren call of the open road--only this time it's a trail. The Appalachian Trail, to be exact. In A Walk in the Woods Bill Bryson tackles what is, for him, an entirely new subject: the American wilderness. Accompanied only by his old college friend Stephen Katz, Bryson starts out one March morning in north Georgia, intending to walk the entire 2,100 miles to the trail's end atop Maine's Mount Katahdin.

If nothing else, A Walk in the Woods is proof positive that the journey is the destination. As Bryson and Katz haul their out-of-shape, middle-aged bodies over hill and dale, the reader is treated to both a very funny personal memoir and a delightful chronicle of the trail, the people who created it, and the places it passes through. Whether you plan to make a trip like this one yourself one day or only care to read about it, A Walk in the Woods is a great way to spend an afternoon. --Alix Wilber

Europe: it's funnier than you might suppose, 03 Feb 2007
Every so often, flicking through the BBC radio stations, I've hit Kerry Shale or Bill Bryson reading from one of Bill's books. At that point I stop flicking and sit and listen. The furrow disappears from my brow and a smile appears on my face. The smile ratchets up into a grin and from time to time a laugh erupts. It happens every time Bill Bryson's thoughts and adventures come out of my radio. But I'm no longer prepared to toggle back and forth between BBC radio 4 and BBC radio 7 just hoping for a bit of Bill Bryson. I commenced a search for an audiobook and found this. Instead of the usual 10 to 20 minute snatch of radio broadcast, I've listened to a full 6 hours, on 5 discs and achieved a serene sense of having been entertained for long, blissful, uninterrupted acres of time. I've travelled from Hammerfest in Norway via France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia and lots of places in between, to end up in Turkey - and seen, heard, smelled and tasted the places and met the people through his descriptions. He's a terrible mickey-taker but still conveys a reasonably positive impression of most of the people he encounters. Even where the people seem a bit sullen and unhelpful there are reasons supplied (usually). For example, the folks in Yugoslavia had been struggling to make even a modest living and had little enough to smile about at the time of his visit. In any case, the main victim of his barbed humour through the whole journey is himself. He soaks up the splendour and atmosphere of the fabulous places he stays, points out their faults, extols the virtues of the peoples and enthusiastically recounts their absurdities. He was only truly scathing about the people of one country and, although I haven't travelled very much, it was one of the few countries I'd actually visited (school skiing holiday many years ago) and I found those people very nice. That just goes to show that you have to take people as you find them, enjoy this audiobook for its entertainment value and not base your beliefs about whole nations on the behaviour of a few (probably) unrepresentative individuals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it. And now I'm off to choose my next Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent or Notes from a Small Island ... can't quite decide yet ...


Often hysterically funny and quite acerbic, 15 Dec 2005
Bryson isn't your typical travel author. He makes an effort to describe the places he visits, but does so in broad strokes. It's like an impressionist painting more than any attempt at detailed realism. He spends 1/3 of his time on the history of the places he visits and it's contemporary reality, 1/3 of his time on what sees and experiences, and 1/3 of his time on how he interprets what he sees as a confused foreigner.

For example, Bryson often goes on at length about the architecture of a building he loves or hates. He'll then describe when such building was erected and how it has been treated over the years since. Then ruminate briefly on how he can't understand the host nation's predeliction for building carparks so as to most efficently despoil an area's natural beauty. He'll finish up by wondering how such perverse actions are the nature of humanity.

Bryson writes with incredible ease, an incredible self-deprecating humor, a lust for travel and new adventures, and an overall wonder of the world around him. You get the impression he's just happy to be alive and could write with joy regarding his most recent attempt to buy chewing gum.

Some people Bill Bryson obnoxious and offensive. But if you like sarcastic and droll humor you'll love Neither Here Nor There.

Yawn, 25 Aug 2008
An aimless and tedious meander through British life as seen from an outsider's point of view. Some of this book is very funny but it is full of pointless anecdotes and inane drivel. This book is too long and much of it is instantly forgettable. Not good!

Nostalgic For Me!, 19 Aug 2008
Needing to clear some space on my bookshelves I have decided to reacquaint myself with Bill Bryson's travel books before Bookcrossing them.
This one was first published in 1995 and the edition on my bookshelf in 1998. I enjoyed reading this travelogue of his tour of the good old UK, many places mentioned of which I have visited during my lifetime. The amusing and often irreverent descriptions of familiar places and British habits were in some cases painfully accurate!
Whilst one might not always agree with Bryson's viewpoint it is none the less an amusing read, though one must also accept that in some respects it is dated.
Certainly worth reading if you are at all interested in Great Britain but remember it was written over thirteen years ago and it has changed even more!
Re-reading this made me quite nostalgic at times especially the last few pages and his concluding comments. Currently living away from Great Britain it gave me an interesting reminder of the things, good and bad, that are unique to that small island where I am proud to say I was born.



The yardstick, 02 Jul 2008
This is one of Bryson's very best and cements his place as the don of travel writing.
The quality and density of his writing, brimming as it is with curious facts and gags, make him simply unbeatable when it comes to this kind of travelogue.
Bryson's greatest skill is that he makes us want to follow him around often-dull and familiar corners of Britain, Europe, Australia and America.
If you're not a fan of the genre, steer clear. But if you like his style this is a must-have.
For those looking for a starting point for this type of travel book, this is as good a place to start as any.

better than expected read, 16 Jun 2008
Having read the reviews, mostly anti - I finished reading this book and was pleasantly surprised. It seems to me that Bill Bryson was writing about his impressions, feelings, emotions, call it what you will, as he toured this island of ours, and it came over as a love/hate relationship until the end, when he makes it quite clear he loves the place and will be back. I tuned in to his kind of off beat humour quite early and loved it. Definitely a lot of snorts of laughter and a lot of 'yes, recognise that' too.
An enjoyable read.


One arduous read., 24 Jan 2008
Whilst this is the first Bryson book I've finished (not the first of his I've attempted to read) it'll almost certainly be the last. I just don't get this guys popularity (a case of "The King's New Clothes" perhaps). It would've been much better if he'd integrated more with people he met on his travels and wrote about their thoughts rather than his own and his transparent exageration of mundane happenings in an effort towards being comical generally fell far short of the mark for me. He'd also benefit from occasionally choosing not to stay in accomodation he initially doesn't like the look of, but then this would leave him something short of to moan about. Disappointing.

Fun listening - you can hear the difference, 16 Mar 2004
This book contains more than you expect. Bill Bryson covers language its self with a focus on English. The book covers speech from a historical view, a physical view, an environmental view, a utilitarian view, and many other views. You will want to play the tape over again as it cruses through many concepts that leave you thinking and speculating how it could have all gone differently.
A highlight for me (aside from his dirty word list) was the recognition that we try to impose Old Latin syntaxes on Modern English and it can get reticules.
My only disappointment comes when he mentions things I have already read and gets it wrong or off the mark.
The advantage of the tape is that you actually hear the pronunciations. When it is a matter of spelling the reader will spell it out for you. Also the reader has the ability to change accents to fit the dialect samples.
The disadvantage is when you want to turn back to a particular page for cross-reference; there is no page to turn. So I would be smart to won both versions.

Very enjoyable, 04 Jun 2008
This is a quirky but enjoyable book; Connelly sets himself the challenge of visiting all the areas of the Shipping Forecast that have a land mass within them over a year-long period. In doing so, his experiences are in turn funny, absurd, perceptive and informative. Various tales made me laugh out loud, particularly his experiences on his first port of call, where's he's unexpectedly at a party with a die-hard Liverpool fan who knows nothing about the geography of Liverpool. Some of the places he visits hold no appeal, but others, such as Lundy, are appealing and have whetted my curiosity. A good read, and an illuminating insight into one of radio's most iconic broadcasts.

Cromarty, westerly four, squally wintry showers, good, 16 Mar 2008
Four times daily, at 0048, 0535, 1201 and 1754, BBC Radio 4 airs the Shipping Forecast, a weather prognostication for each of thirty-one geographically well-defined but more or less arbitrarily designated and sited maritime areas surrounding the British Isles. What may be incomprehensible code to the uninitiated listener is actually a simple and frugaly worded forecasting statement divided into four parts: area name, wind direction and strength, weather conditions, and visibility.

The forebears of English author Charlie Connelly, a sportswriter of several books chiefly about European soccer, led lives touched by the sea. Yet, beyond a few ferry trips, Connelly, to his self-admitted embarrassment, was notably landlocked. Thus, to make up for his landlubberliness, he vowed to visit all thirty-one of the shipping forecast areas, or at least those that had peripheral or inclusive terra firma to stand upon, in a calendar year. In ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING, he tells us all about it via a congenial and humorous narrative.

Obviously, the book is more about interesting and/or out of the way places than the Shipping Forecast itself, though, by the end of chapter two, one has learned all that's necessary about the history, evolution, and value to sailors of the forecast, which dates, in its current form, back to 1924. In the eleven chapters that follow, Connelly makes landfall in twenty-five of the areas. Five (Viking, Forties, Dogger, Bailey, Rockall) he only flys or sails over. One, Trafalgar, down off the southwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula, he almost entirely neglects for no other reason than it's mentioned in only the 0048 bulletin. Otherwise, his meandering journey takes him to:

North and South Utsire: Utsira Island (Norway)
Cromarty: Cromarty (Scotland)
Forth: Arbroath (Scotland)
Tyne: Whitby (England)
Fisher: Hanstholm (Denmark)
German Bight: Sylt Island (Germany)
Humber: Cromer (England)
Thames: the Principality of Sealand
Dover: Dover and the White Cliffs (England)
Wight: the Isle of Wight (England)
Portland: Portland peninsula (England)
Plymouth: Plymouth (England)
Biscay: St-Jean-de-Luz (France) and Bilbao (Spain)
FitzRoy: Finisterre (Spain)
Sole: St. Mary's, St. Agnes, Tresco, and Bryher islands (Isles of Scilly, England)
Lundy: Lundy Island (England)
Fastnet: Cork and Cobh (Ireland)
Irish Sea: the Isle of Man
Shannon: Kilrush (Ireland)
Malin: Malin Head (Ireland)
Hebrides: Barra and Eriskay islands (Outer Hebrides, Scotland)
Fair Isle: Mainland and Fair Isle islands (Shetland Islands, Scotland)
Faeroes: Torshavn (Faeroe Islands, Denmark)
South-east Iceland: Heimay (Vestmannaeyjar, aka the Westman Islands, Iceland)

Charlie succeeds in making all his destinations interesting by sharing facets of each locale's history, events, or famous residents. For instance, Whitby was the hometown of Captain James Cook and Cromer that of Henry Blogg, renowned as the greatest lifeboatman who ever lived. Heimay was evacuated during a volcanic eruption. The oddest place is perhaps the Principality of Sealand, which was originally one of four World War II heavy gun platforms constructed in the Thames Estuary. After being abandoned by the British military, it was purchased by a private citizen who subsequently proclaimed it a sovereign state, a claim that, surprisingly, has been upheld by British courts. At the other extreme of novelty is Hanstholm, the Danish ferry port so excruciatingly boring that it's Connelly's account of fending off tedium for two days that is in itself droll. Even area Rockall, an expanse of open sea which Charlie doesn't visit for obvious reasons, contains Rockall "island", a mid-ocean protrusion of rock 89 feet in diameter and 72 in height that occupies a place of honor in the pantheon of the world's ludicrous territorial and political squabbles.

The author's commentary is so engaging that he can be forgiven the occasional factual misstatement. Charlie asserts that the lighthouse on Spain's Cape Finisterre is at "the end of the finger of land that is continental Europe's westernmost landfall", when, in fact, that honor belongs to Portugal's Cape Roca. Later, Connelly writes that "Fair Isle is actually Britain's remotest island community" when, actually, Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic is not only the most isolated British island community but also the most far-flung archipelago in the world. Regarding Fair Isle, I suspect that the author meant to say that it's the remotest community within territorial waters contiguous with the home islands.

ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING deserves 5 stars because it transports me in fine style to places that I shall likely never visit but, after reading this fascinating travelogue, wish I could some day. Then perhaps, I could express something similar to Charlie's experience:

"I was sorry to leave Scilly, a special part of the United Kingdom. Sit on the front at Hugh Town and look out beyond the palm trees across the clear azure water to the white sandy beaches of Tresco beyond and it's hard to believe that you're less than thirty miles from the English mainland ... when I think of that Hugh Town vista and then look out of my window at my south-east London Victorian terraced beehive of a street as I write this, I know where I'd rather be."

Good potentially interesting idea, let down by the poor writing style and writer's 'humour', 22 Oct 2007
I bought this book randomly, attracted by the cover and needing a third book in a three for the price of two offer. It is a good idea and this is potentially a very interesting book. However, it is badly let down by the writer's chatty style of prose which is highly annoying and adds nothing to the book but takes up more than half of the pages. He offers such banal, predictable insights into the different areas that it is painful to read. Its in a similar vein to Dave Gorman and the 'ooh arent I making humorous comments and being satirical' type of knowing humour; Mr Gorman however to a large extent carries it off, Connolley doesnt.

If this could be published without Connelly's insights and a few more facts it might be interesting but as it is I would not recommend this book.

Read this - Good, Don't read this - poor, 28 Oct 2006
Simply one of the best books I have ever read.

If you are an anal retentive or an anorak it might just appeal to you a bit more, but whatever you are there's something here for you. Perhaps my job (Export sales, so a lot of travelling) or my hobbies (flying and birdwatching) helped, but if I could be objective, I still think it was great.

Bill Bryson get your big fat US ass out of the way for Charlie Connelly.

Rob Sawyer




Goes down a storm, 16 Apr 2006
This was one of my surprisingly good reads of 2006. Having never heard the shipping news (well, consciously at any rate), this would never have been a first choice and I must admit to being a little dubious about receiving it as a gift.

The basic premise seems designed for retired sailors safely tucked under their lap blankets in an out of the way coastal town. The author, oddly intrigued by the shipping forecast since his youth, would spend a year travelling through each of the areas named in the forecast and give us a potted history of each. Not generally my cup of tea, particularly when some of these places have so little to offer your regular tourist that even the locals are surprised to see him.

However, Connelly's writing style clearly carries this concept. He is a brilliant observer of both people and places and kept me giggling away at even the most banal travelling mishaps. The book is packed with cringeworthy character studies, laugh out loud anecdotes and interesting local histories - all of which come together in an exceptionally good read.

While I have no inclination to visit many of the places on Connelly's travels, I am at least now better informed as to why that might be and definitely have admiration for an author who can find so much of interest in even the most banal of places. Definitely worth a read.

Moose and Bears and Hikers, Oh My!, 19 Aug 2008
Never start reading a Bill Bryson book in a public place. This is the mistake I made with A Walk in the Woods, and I found myself giggling embarrassingly. Starting with the selection of equipment, and then the preparation for the journey by reading several terror-inducing stories of bear attacks, Bill Bryson continually amuses, educates and entertains.

Bryson sets off on one of the most physically and psychologically demanding tests of stamina that he could attempt: a hike along the Appalachian Trail. With his long-suffering friend Katz in tow, he encounters brutal weather, crazy hikers, price-gouging hostels, and random acts of kindness that make the whole thing worthwhile. I was especially touched to read about people who come to the AT specifically to leave things like snacks and books for the hikers.

Given that I am not in any kind of shape to attempt even a day hike on the AT, I enjoyed living vicariously through Bill Bryson's experiences. The vistas he got to view sounded amazing, and I could almost taste the wonderful, satisfying meals enjoyed when he was able to reach "home cooking" after many days on the Trail. In addition, his turns of phrase had me laughing out loud over and over again. The first Bryson book I've ever read, but definitely not the last.

What a fantastic read!, 21 Apr 2008
I'm not a big reader and had never before read a Bill Bryson book but was bought this for Christmas by my parents. I took it with me on holiday as essential beach reading and as soon as I started it, found it VERY hard to put down.

Bryson's writing style is easy to read and extremely entertaining whilest being factual and informative.

I have now started to read his 'Down Under' book and am quick becoming a big Bill Bryson fan!

Nice, enjoyable, fairly light, 24 Mar 2008
Not as many laughs out loud as some of his others, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

MORE OF A MARATHON - ENJOY!, 28 Dec 2007
Bill Bryson takes us on a marathon trek on the highways and byways of the Appalacian Trail with his out of condition middle aged body and that of Katz his physically challenged friend. Luckily for them and us, they didn`t have the slightest idea of what they were in for before they set out - meeting interesting characters on the way and having several out of the body experiences. Bill manages to keep our interest to the end in a thoroughly entertaining read which moves much faster than the aching bodies of the two protagonists!

Mick Drake author of the the comic novel All`s Well at Wellwithoute

Not his greatest, but still entertaining, 29 Nov 2007
There are some good and some bad points to this audio CD.

First, it isn't as good as his travels around Britain, Europe, or his notes from a Big Country. There is considerably less material here - it's all about him hiking the Appalachians with his friend Steve Katz. It's still enjoyable in itself, but Bill Bryson writes best when he is put into new, bewildering situations, poking fun at the people he meets and poking fun at his reactions. And in a Walk in the Woods, he simply doesn't meet enough weirdos with which to test his acid pen.

Bill Bryson narrating the book is a mixed benefit. On the one hand, it's always good to have the author read his own material. And the passages in which Bill Bryson desribes the hostile beauty of Appalachians are particularly evocative. The problem is that unfortunately, his voice is quite relaxing and occasionally dull. Despite the fact that he is one of the funniest writers around today, he can't tell a straight-forward gag, whereas the often irritating narrator on some of his other work (the name escapes me) at least knew when and how to tell a funny story.

Despite the shortcomings, it is still enjoyable. I listened to it whilst driving long distance, and it's very nice to pass the time to. But I don't think I'd listen to it sat at home.

Europe: it's funnier than you might suppose, 03 Feb 2007
Every so often, flicking through the BBC radio stations, I've hit Kerry Shale or Bill Bryson reading from one of Bill's books. At that point I stop flicking and sit and listen. The furrow disappears from my brow and a smile appears on my face. The smile ratchets up into a grin and from time to time a laugh erupts. It happens every time Bill Bryson's thoughts and adventures come out of my radio. But I'm no longer prepared to toggle back and forth between BBC radio 4 and BBC radio 7 just hoping for a bit of Bill Bryson. I commenced a search for an audiobook and found this. Instead of the usual 10 to 20 minute snatch of radio broadcast, I've listened to a full 6 hours, on 5 discs and achieved a serene sense of having been entertained for long, blissful, uninterrupted acres of time. I've travelled from Hammerfest in Norway via France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia and lots of places in between, to end up in Turkey - and seen, heard, smelled and tasted the places and met the people through his descriptions. He's a terrible mickey-taker but still conveys a reasonably positive impression of most of the people he encounters. Even where the people seem a bit sullen and unhelpful there are reasons supplied (usually). For example, the folks in Yugoslavia had been struggling to make even a modest living and had little enough to smile about at the time of his visit. In any case, the main victim of his barbed humour through the whole journey is himself. He soaks up the splendour and atmosphere of the fabulous places he stays, points out their faults, extols the virtues of the peoples and enthusiastically recounts their absurdities. He was only truly scathing about the people of one country and, although I haven't travelled very much, it was one of the few countries I'd actually visited (school skiing holiday many years ago) and I found those people very nice. That just goes to show that you have to take people as you find them, enjoy this audiobook for its entertainment value and not base your beliefs about whole nations on the behaviour of a few (probably) unrepresentative individuals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it. And now I'm off to choose my next Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent or Notes from a Small Island ... can't quite decide yet ...


Often hysterically funny and quite acerbic, 15 Dec 2005
Bryson isn't your typical travel author. He makes an effort to describe the places he visits, but does so in broad strokes. It's like an impressionist painting more than any attempt at detailed realism. He spends 1/3 of his time on the history of the places he visits and it's contemporary reality, 1/3 of his time on what sees and experiences, and 1/3 of his time on how he interprets what he sees as a confused foreigner.

For example, Bryson often goes on at length about the architecture of a building he loves or hates. He'll then describe when such building was erected and how it has been treated over the years since. Then ruminate briefly on how he can't understand the host nation's predeliction for building carparks so as to most efficently despoil an area's natural beauty. He'll finish up by wondering how such perverse actions are the nature of humanity.

Bryson writes with incredible ease, an incredible self-deprecating humor, a lust for travel and new adventures, and an overall wonder of the world around him. You get the impression he's just happy to be alive and could write with joy regarding his most recent attempt to buy chewing gum.

Some people Bill Bryson obnoxious and offensive. But if you like sarcastic and droll humor you'll love Neither Here Nor There.

Yawn, 25 Aug 2008
An aimless and tedious meander through British life as seen from an outsider's point of view. Some of this book is very funny but it is full of pointless anecdotes and inane drivel. This book is too long and much of it is instantly forgettable. Not good!

Nostalgic For Me!, 19 Aug 2008
Needing to clear some space on my bookshelves I have decided to reacquaint myself with Bill Bryson's travel books before Bookcrossing them.
This one was first published in 1995 and the edition on my bookshelf in 1998. I enjoyed reading this travelogue of his tour of the good old UK, many places mentioned of which I have visited during my lifetime. The amusing and often irreverent descriptions of familiar places and British habits were in some cases painfully accurate!
Whilst one might not always agree with Bryson's viewpoint it is none the less an amusing read, though one must also accept that in some respects it is dated.
Certainly worth reading if you are at all interested in Great Britain but remember it was written over thirteen years ago and it has changed even more!
Re-reading this made me quite nostalgic at times especially the last few pages and his concluding comments. Currently living away from Great Britain it gave me an interesting reminder of the things, good and bad, that are unique to that small island where I am proud to say I was born.



The yardstick, 02 Jul 2008
This is one of Bryson's very best and cements his place as the don of travel writing.
The quality and density of his writing, brimming as it is with curious facts and gags, make him simply unbeatable when it comes to this kind of travelogue.
Bryson's greatest skill is that he makes us want to follow him around often-dull and familiar corners of Britain, Europe, Australia and America.
If you're not a fan of the genre, steer clear. But if you like his style this is a must-have.
For those looking for a starting point for this type of travel book, this is as good a place to start as any.

better than expected read, 16 Jun 2008
Having read the reviews, mostly anti - I finished reading this book and was pleasantly surprised. It seems to me that Bill Bryson was writing about his impressions, feelings, emotions, call it what you will, as he toured this island of ours, and it came over as a love/hate relationship until the end, when he makes it quite clear he loves the place and will be back. I tuned in to his kind of off beat humour quite early and loved it. Definitely a lot of snorts of laughter and a lot of 'yes, recognise that' too.
An enjoyable read.


One arduous read., 24 Jan 2008
Whilst this is the first Bryson book I've finished (not the first of his I've attempted to read) it'll almost certainly be the last. I just don't get this guys popularity (a case of "The King's New Clothes" perhaps). It would've been much better if he'd integrated more with people he met on his travels and wrote about their thoughts rather than his own and his transparent exageration of mundane happenings in an effort towards being comical generally fell far short of the mark for me. He'd also benefit from occasionally choosing not to stay in accomodation he initially doesn't like the look of, but then this would leave him something short of to moan about. Disappointing.

Fun listening - you can hear the difference, 16 Mar 2004
This book contains more than you expect. Bill Bryson covers language its self with a focus on English. The book covers speech from a historical view, a physical view, an environmental view, a utilitarian view, and many other views. You will want to play the tape over again as it cruses through many concepts that leave you thinking and speculating how it could have all gone differently.
A highlight for me (aside from his dirty word list) was the recognition that we try to impose Old Latin syntaxes on Modern English and it can get reticules.
My only disappointment comes when he mentions things I have already read and gets it wrong or off the mark.
The advantage of the tape is that you actually hear the pronunciations. When it is a matter of spelling the reader will spell it out for you. Also the reader has the ability to change accents to fit the dialect samples.
The disadvantage is when you want to turn back to a particular page for cross-reference; there is no page to turn. So I would be smart to won both versions.

Very enjoyable, 04 Jun 2008
This is a quirky but enjoyable book; Connelly sets himself the challenge of visiting all the areas of the Shipping Forecast that have a land mass within them over a year-long period. In doing so, his experiences are in turn funny, absurd, perceptive and informative. Various tales made me laugh out loud, particularly his experiences on his first port of call, where's he's unexpectedly at a party with a die-hard Liverpool fan who knows nothing about the geography of Liverpool. Some of the places he visits hold no appeal, but others, such as Lundy, are appealing and have whetted my curiosity. A good read, and an illuminating insight into one of radio's most iconic broadcasts.

Cromarty, westerly four, squally wintry showers, good, 16 Mar 2008
Four times daily, at 0048, 0535, 1201 and 1754, BBC Radio 4 airs the Shipping Forecast, a weather prognostication for each of thirty-one geographically well-defined but more or less arbitrarily designated and sited maritime areas surrounding the British Isles. What may be incomprehensible code to the uninitiated listener is actually a simple and frugaly worded forecasting statement divided into four parts: area name, wind direction and strength, weather conditions, and visibility.

The forebears of English author Charlie Connelly, a sportswriter of several books chiefly about European soccer, led lives touched by the sea. Yet, beyond a few ferry trips, Connelly, to his self-admitted embarrassment, was notably landlocked. Thus, to make up for his landlubberliness, he vowed to visit all thirty-one of the shipping forecast areas, or at least those that had peripheral or inclusive terra firma to stand upon, in a calendar year. In ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING, he tells us all about it via a congenial and humorous narrative.

Obviously, the book is more about interesting and/or out of the way places than the Shipping Forecast itself, though, by the end of chapter two, one has learned all that's necessary about the history, evolution, and value to sailors of the forecast, which dates, in its current form, back to 1924. In the eleven chapters that follow, Connelly makes landfall in twenty-five of the areas. Five (Viking, Forties, Dogger, Bailey, Rockall) he only flys or sails over. One, Trafalgar, down off the southwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula, he almost entirely neglects for no other reason than it's mentioned in only the 0048 bulletin. Otherwise, his meandering journey takes him to:

North and South Utsire: Utsira Island (Norway)
Cromarty: Cromarty (Scotland)
Forth: Arbroath (Scotland)
Tyne: Whitby (England)
Fisher: Hanstholm (Denmark)
German Bight: Sylt Island (Germany)
Humber: Cromer (England)
Thames: the Principality of Sealand
Dover: Dover and the White Cliffs (England)
Wight: the Isle of Wight (England)
Portland: Portland peninsula (England)
Plymouth: Plymouth (England)
Biscay: St-Jean-de-Luz (France) and Bilbao (Spain)
FitzRoy: Finisterre (Spain)
Sole: St. Mary's, St. Agnes, Tresco, and Bryher islands (Isles of Scilly, England)
Lundy: Lundy Island (England)
Fastnet: Cork and Cobh (Ireland)
Irish Sea: the Isle of Man
Shannon: Kilrush (Ireland)
Malin: Malin Head (Ireland)
Hebrides: Barra and Eriskay islands (Outer Hebrides, Scotland)
Fair Isle: Mainland and Fair Isle islands (Shetland Islands, Scotland)
Faeroes: Torshavn (Faeroe Islands, Denmark)
South-east Iceland: Heimay (Vestmannaeyjar, aka the Westman Islands, Iceland)

Charlie succeeds in making all his destinations interesting by sharing facets of each locale's history, events, or famous residents. For instance, Whitby was the hometown of Captain James Cook and Cromer that of Henry Blogg, renowned as the greatest lifeboatman who ever lived. Heimay was evacuated during a volcanic eruption. The oddest place is perhaps the Principality of Sealand, which was originally one of four World War II heavy gun platforms constructed in the Thames Estuary. After being abandoned by the British military, it was purchased by a private citizen who subsequently proclaimed it a sovereign state, a claim that, surprisingly, has been upheld by British courts. At the other extreme of novelty is Hanstholm, the Danish ferry port so excruciatingly boring that it's Connelly's account of fending off tedium for two days that is in itself droll. Even area Rockall, an expanse of open sea which Charlie doesn't visit for obvious reasons, contains Rockall "island", a mid-ocean protrusion of rock 89 feet in diameter and 72 in height that occupies a place of honor in the pantheon of the world's ludicrous territorial and political squabbles.

The author's commentary is so engaging that he can be forgiven the occasional factual misstatement. Charlie asserts that the lighthouse on Spain's Cape Finisterre is at "the end of the finger of land that is continental Europe's westernmost landfall", when, in fact, that honor belongs to Portugal's Cape Roca. Later, Connelly writes that "Fair Isle is actually Britain's remotest island community" when, actually, Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic is not only the most isolated British island community but also the most far-flung archipelago in the world. Regarding Fair Isle, I suspect that the author meant to say that it's the remotest community within territorial waters contiguous with the home islands.

ATTENTION ALL SHIPPING deserves 5 stars because it transports me in fine style to places that I shall likely never visit but, after reading this fascinating travelogue, wish I could some day. Then perhaps, I could express something similar to Charlie's experience:

"I was sorry to leave Scilly, a special part of the United Kingdom. Sit on the front at Hugh Town and look out beyond the palm trees across the clear azure water to the white sandy beaches of Tresco beyond and it's hard to believe that you're less than thirty miles from the English mainland ... when I think of that Hugh Town vista and then look out of my window at my south-east London Victorian terraced beehive of a street as I write this, I know where I'd rather be."

Good potentially interesting idea, let down by the poor writing style and writer's 'humour', 22 Oct 2007
I bought this book randomly, attracted by the cover and needing a third book in a three for the price of two offer. It is a good idea and this is potentially a very interesting book. However, it is badly let down by the writer's chatty style of prose which is highly annoying and adds nothing to the book but takes up more than half of the pages. He offers such banal, predictable insights into the different areas that it is painful to read. Its in a similar vein to Dave Gorman and the 'ooh arent I making humorous comments and being satirical' type of knowing humour; Mr Gorman however to a large extent carries it off, Connolley doesnt.

If this could be published without Connelly's insights and a few more facts it might be interesting but as it is I would not recommend this book.

Read this - Good, Don't read this - poor, 28 Oct 2006
Simply one of the best books I have ever read.

If you are an anal retentive or an anorak it might just appeal to you a bit more, but whatever you are there's something here for you. Perhaps my job (Export sales, so a lot of travelling) or my hobbies (flying and birdwatching) helped, but if I could be objective, I still think it was great.

Bill Bryson get your big fat US ass out of the way for Charlie Connelly.

Rob Sawyer




Goes down a storm, 16 Apr 2006
This was one of my surprisingly good reads of 2006. Having never heard the shipping news (well, consciously at any rate), this would never have been a first choice and I must admit to being a little dubious about receiving it as a gift.

The basic premise seems designed for retired sailors safely tucked under their lap blankets in an out of the way coastal town. The author, oddly intrigued by the shipping forecast since his youth, would spend a year travelling through each of the areas named in the forecast and give us a potted history of each. Not generally my cup of tea, particularly when some of these places have so little to offer your regular tourist that even the locals are surprised to see him.

However, Connelly's writing style clearly carries this concept. He is a brilliant observer of both people and places and kept me giggling away at even the most banal travelling mishaps. The book is packed with cringeworthy character studies, laugh out loud anecdotes and interesting local histories - all of which come together in an exceptionally good read.

While I have no inclination to visit many of the places on Connelly's travels, I am at least now better informed as to why that might be and definitely have admiration for an author who can find so much of interest in even the most banal of places. Definitely worth a read.

Moose and Bears and Hikers, Oh My!, 19 Aug 2008
Never start reading a Bill Bryson book in a public place. This is the mistake I made with A Walk in the Woods, and I found myself giggling embarrassingly. Starting with the selection of equipment, and then the preparation for the journey by reading several terror-inducing stories of bear attacks, Bill Bryson continually amuses, educates and entertains.

Bryson sets off on one of the most physically and psychologically demanding tests of stamina that he could attempt: a hike along the Appalachian Trail. With his long-suffering friend Katz in tow, he encounters brutal weather, crazy hikers, price-gouging hostels, and random acts of kindness that make the whole thing worthwhile. I was especially touched to read about people who come to the AT specifically to leave things like snacks and books for the hikers.

Given that I am not in any kind of shape to attempt even a day hike on the AT, I enjoyed living vicariously through Bill Bryson's experiences. The vistas he got to view sounded amazing, and I could almost taste the wonderful, satisfying meals enjoyed when he was able to reach "home cooking" after many days on the Trail. In addition, his turns of phrase had me laughing out loud over and over again. The first Bryson book I've ever read, but definitely not the last.

What a fantastic read!, 21 Apr 2008
I'm not a big reader and had never before read a Bill Bryson book but was bought this for Christmas by my parents. I took it with me on holiday as essential beach reading and as soon as I started it, found it VERY hard to put down.

Bryson's writing style is easy to read and extremely entertaining whilest being factual and informative.

I have now started to read his 'Down Under' book and am quick becoming a big Bill Bryson fan!

Nice, enjoyable, fairly light, 24 Mar 2008
Not as many laughs out loud as some of his others, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

MORE OF A MARATHON - ENJOY!, 28 Dec 2007
Bill Bryson takes us on a marathon trek on the highways and byways of the Appalacian Trail with his out of condition middle aged body and that of Katz his physically challenged friend. Luckily for them and us, they didn`t have the slightest idea of what they were in for before they set out - meeting interesting characters on the way and having several out of the body experiences. Bill manages to keep our interest to the end in a thoroughly entertaining read which moves much faster than the aching bodies of the two protagonists!

Mick Drake author of the the comic novel All`s Well at Wellwithoute

Not his greatest, but still entertaining, 29 Nov 2007
There are some good and some bad points to this audio CD.

First, it isn't as good as his travels around Britain, Europe, or his notes from a Big Country. There is considerably less material here - it's all about him hiking the Appalachians with his friend Steve Katz. It's still enjoyable in itself, but Bill Bryson writes best when he is put into new, bewildering situations, poking fun at the people he meets and poking fun at his reactions. And in a Walk in the Woods, he simply doesn't meet enough weirdos with which to test his acid pen.

Bill Bryson narrating the book is a mixed benefit. On the one hand, it's always good to have the author read his own material. And the passages in which Bill Bryson desribes the hostile beauty of Appalachians are particularly evocative. The problem is that unfortunately, his voice is quite relaxing and occasionally dull. Despite the fact that he is one of the funniest writers around today, he can't tell a straight-forward gag, whereas the often irritating narrator on some of his other work (the name escapes me) at least knew when and how to tell a funny story.

Despite the shortcomings, it is still enjoyable. I listened to it whilst driving long distance, and it's very nice to pass the time to. But I don't think I'd listen to it sat at home.

Short and sweet, fund raiser!, 05 Sep 2008
The phrase short and sweet popped into my mind about this 49 page little book about Bill Bryson's 8 days in Kenya. It is actually a bitter sweet account about the work of the charity organization CARE one of the worlds leading international organizations fighting against poverty. They believe that by working to find the source of a communities problems and solving it they can help make the world a safer and more stable place for us all.
Unfortunately the book is a very superficial glance into the problems that are facing Kenya poverty, war, disease and corruption. However it did its job reminding me that we should be grateful for the small things in life and appreciate the fact that there are millions of people in Africa lacking even the basics for survival.



A Brilliant Entry for a Great Cause, 19 Aug 2008
Bill Bryson is the funniest travel writer working today, I believe, and even when he takes on what is an unpleasant task - visiting one of the most depressed areas of the world in order to raise funds for CARE, he does it in a hilarious way.

In this short little book, Bryson not only shares with us his (by turns) funny and heartbreaking journey, we also get to meet some amazing people. The lady who works twelve-hour days in order to get a profit of some $7 or $8 - the farmer who has made a fantastic farm and is very proud of it - the villagers who come out to welcome the visitors with open arms because of a well that was built, eliminating the need for the women of the village to make a seven-hour roundtrip journey to the nearest water source. This is what it's all about - this is the magical work that CARE does with the funds that are donated.

Bryson is his usual, witty self, freely confessing that the homework he did in preparing for his trip was watching Out of Africa numerous times, and he thought that he was going to be on an estate being served coffee for most of the trip. The reality was somewhat different, but still far afield from what he expected. That I not only laughed out loud but insisted on reading choice bits aloud to my husband is a testament to the talent and humor that Bryson brings to everything he does.

It's a charity book, people..., 05 Dec 2007
This was never intended to be a regular Bill Bryson book. He was invited to take a short trip to Africa, on a timetable set by his charitable guests, and to produce an equally short volume to raise funds for the charity. This he did, taking no royalties for himself. To complain about the length or to compare it to his other travelogues completely misses the point. Yes it's short, but bear in mind that for a hardcover it's pretty cheap.

As it happens, the standard of writing is as high as ever - laugh-out-loud anecdotes mixed with thought-provoking and fascinating insights into the lives of the people helped by the charity. It's well worth buying for that alone, regardless of the fact that for once your money will be doing some good rather than lining a publisher's pockets.

Not a 'proper' Bryson book, but entertaining......, 07 Aug 2007
I would urge everybody to read at least one Bill Bryson book in their lifetime. He is a most entertaining and intelligent writer, the kind who you would feel no qualms having a few drinks and a conversation with; he is that concilliatory with his readers.
This slim volume of sixty pages, however, was only intended to draw attention to the work of CARE and, despite the title, takes place in only one country (Kenya) of the massive African continent. Whereas I understand and appreciate the concern of the author and the charity, it is not a patch on the richly deep and hilarious 'proper' Bryson travel books such as Notes From A Small Island or A Walk In The Woods. Very much a completists buy.

Incredibly funny for such a short book, 24 Sep 2004
I was amazed by the quality of this work - initially disappointed by its size, I read it nevertheless and was soon in fits of laughter. It is unbelievable how an author manages to pack such a dense number of insights into such a compact work. A thoroughly good read - highly recommended.

Europe: it's funnier than you might suppose, 03 Feb 2007
Every so often, flicking through the BBC radio stations, I've hit Kerry Shale or Bill Bryson reading from one of Bill's books. At that point I stop flicking and sit and listen. The furrow disappears from my brow and a smile appears on my face. The smile ratchets up into a grin and from time to time a laugh erupts. It happens every time Bill Bryson's thoughts and adventures come out of my radio. But I'm no longer prepared to toggle back and forth between BBC radio 4 and BBC radio 7 just hoping for a bit of Bill Bryson. I commenced a search for an audiobook and found this. Instead of the usual 10 to 20 minute snatch of radio broadcast, I've listened to a full 6 hours, on 5 discs and achieved a serene sense of having been entertained for long, blissful, uninterrupted acres of time. I've travelled from Hammerfest in Norway via France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia and lots of places in between, to end up in Turkey - and seen, heard, smelled and tasted the places and met the people through his descriptions. He's a terrible mickey-taker but still conveys a reasonably positive impression of most of the people he encounters. Even where the people seem a bit sullen and unhelpful there are reasons supplied (usually). For example, the folks in Yugoslavia had been struggling to make even a modest living and had little enough to smile about at the time of his visit. In any case, the main victim of his barbed humour through the whole journey is himself. He soaks up the splendour and atmosphere of the fabulous places he stays, points out their faults, extols the virtues of the peoples and enthusiastically recounts their absurdities. He was only truly scathing about the people of one country and, although I haven't travelled very much, it was one of the few countries I'd actually visited (school skiing holiday many years ago) and I found those people very nice. That just goes to show that you have to take people as you find them, enjoy this audiobook for its entertainment value and not base your beliefs about whole nations on the behaviour of a few (probably) unrepresentative individuals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it. And now I'm off to choose my next Bill Bryson - The Lost Continent or Notes from a Small Island ... can't quite decide yet ...


Often hysterically funny and quite acerbic, 15 Dec 2005
Bryson isn't your typical travel author. He makes an effort to describe the places he visits, but does so in broad strokes. It's like an impressionist painting more than any attempt at detailed realism. He spends 1/3 of his time on the history of the places he visits and it's contemporary reality, 1/3 of his time on what sees and experiences, and 1/3 of his time on how he interprets what he sees as a confused foreigner.

For example, Bryson often goes on at length about the architecture of a building he loves or hates. He'll then describe when such building was erected and how it has been treated over the years since. Then ruminate briefly on how he can't understand the host nation's predeliction for building carparks so as to most efficently despoil an area's natural beauty. He'll finish up by wondering how such perverse actions are the nature of humanity.

Bryson writes with incredible ease, an incredible self-deprecating humor, a lust for travel and new adventures, and an overall wonder of the world around him. You get the impression he's just happy to be alive and could write with joy regarding his most recent attempt to buy chewing gum.

Some people Bill Bryson obnoxious and offensive. But if you like sarcastic and droll humor you'll love Neither Here Nor There.

Yawn, 25 Aug 2008
An aimless and tedious meander through British life as seen from an outsider's point of view. Some of this book is very funny but it is full of pointless anecdotes and inane drivel. This book is too long and much of it is instantly forgettable. Not good!

Nostalgic For Me!, 19 Aug 2008
Needing to clear some space on my bookshelves I have decided to reacquaint myself with Bill Bryson's travel books before Bookcrossing them.
This one was first published in 1995 and the edition on my bookshelf in 1998. I enjoyed reading this travelogue of his tour of the good old UK, many places mentioned of which I have visited during my lifetime. The amusing and often irreverent descriptions of familiar places and British habits were in some cases painfully accurate!
Whilst one might not always agree with Bryson's viewpoint it is none the less an amusing read, though one must also accept that in some respects it is dated.
Certainly worth reading if you are at all interested in Great Britain but remember it was written over thirteen years ago and it has changed even more!
Re-reading this made me quite nostalgic at times especially the last few pages and his concluding comments. Currently living away from Great Britain it gave me an interesting reminder of the things, good and bad, that are unique to that small island where I am proud to say I was born.



The yardstick, 02 Jul 2008
This is one of Bryson's very best and cements his place as the don of travel writing.
The quality and density of his writing, brimming as it is with curious facts and gags, make him simply unbeatable when it comes to this kind of travelogue.
Bryson's greatest skill is that he makes us want to follow him around often-dull and familiar corners of Britain, Europe, Australia and America.
If you're not a fan of the genre, steer clear. But if you like his style this is a must-have.
For those looking for a starting point for this type of travel book, this is as good a place to start as any.

better than expected read, 16 Jun 2008
Having read the reviews, mostly anti - I finished reading this book and was pleasantly surprised. It seems to me that Bill Bryson was writing about his impressions, feelings, emotions, call it what you will, as he toured this island of ours, and it came over as a love/hate relationship until the end, when he makes it quite clear he loves the place and will be back. I tuned in to his kind of off beat humour quite early and loved it. Definitely a lot of snorts of laughter and a lot of 'yes, recognise that' too.
An enjoyable read.


One arduous read., 24 Jan 2008
Whilst this is the first Bryson book I've finished (not the first of his I've attempted to read) it'll almost certainly be the last. I just don't get this guys popularity (a case of "The King's New Clothes" perhaps). It would've been much better if he'd integrated more with people he met on his travels and wrote about their thoughts rather than his own and his transparent exageration of mundane happenings in an effort towards being comical generally fell far short of the mark for me. He'd also benefit from occasionally choosing not to stay in accomodation he initially doesn't like the look of, but then this would leave him something short of to moan about. Disappointing.

Fun listening - you can hear the difference, 16 Mar 2004
This book contains more than you expect. Bill Bryson covers language its self with a focus on English. The book covers speech from a historical view, a physical view, an environmental view, a utilitarian view, and many other views. You will want to play the tape over again as it cruses through many concepts that leave you thinking and speculating how it could have all gone differently.
A highlight for me (aside from his dirty word list) was the recognition that we try to impose Old Latin syntaxes on Modern English and it can get reticules.
My only disappointment comes when he mentions things I have already read and gets it wrong or off the mark.
The advantage of the tape is that you actually hear the pronunciations. When it is a matter of spelling the reader will spell it out for you. Also the reader has the ability to change accents to fit the dialect samples.
The disadvantage is when you want to turn back to a particular page for cross-reference; there is no page to turn. So I would be smart to won both versions.

Very enjoyable, 04 Jun 2008
This is a quirky but enjoyable book; Connelly sets himself the challenge of visiting all the areas of the Shipping Forecast that have a land mass within them over a year-long period. In doing so, his experiences are in turn funny, absurd, perceptive and informative. Various tales made me laugh out loud, particularly his experiences on his first port of call, where's he's unexpectedly at a party with a die-hard Liverpool fan who knows nothing about the geography of Liverpool. Some of the places he visits hold no appeal, but others, such as Lundy, are appealing and have whetted my curiosity. A good read, and an illuminating insight into one of radio's most iconic broadcasts.

Cromarty, westerly four, squally wintry showers, good, 16 Mar 2008
Four times daily, at 0048, 0535, 1201 and 1754, BBC Radio 4 airs the Shipping Forecast, a weather prognostication for each of thirty-one geographically well-defined but more or less arbitrarily designated and sited maritime areas surrounding the British Isles. What may be incomprehensible code to the uninitiated listener is actually a simple and frugaly worded forecasting statement divided into four parts: area name, wind direction and strength, weather conditions, and visibility.

The forebears of English author Charlie Connelly, a sportswriter of several books chiefly about European