Althouse: "I don’t consciously avoid any genres, but it is unlikely you would find me lingering in the section where they keep books like 'Eat, Pray, Love' or memoirs of life with a pet."

January 16, 2016

"I don’t consciously avoid any genres, but it is unlikely you would find me lingering in the section where they keep books like 'Eat, Pray, Love' or memoirs of life with a pet."

Says Bill Bryson — who has a new book "The Road to Little Dribbling/Adventures of an American in Britain" — in an interview in the NYT.

I'm an immense Bill Bryson fan, primarily because I love his audiobook voice. It's my go-to read-me-to-sleep voice. I've listened to all of his audiobooks hundreds of times over the past 20 years. You can't imagine the extent of my attachment to his voice. I'm always so happy when he puts out another book so I'll have a bigger choice of audiobooks. Unfortunately, "The Road to Little Dribbling" has somebody else reading it!

23 comments:

traditionalguy said...: Thanks for the heads up. I saw that last month but thought it was an old one.; 1/16/16, 10:19 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Thanks for the heads up. I saw that last month but thought it was an old one."

Probably because it sounds a lot like "Notes from a Small Island."; 1/16/16, 10:33 AM
Hagar said...: You are "immense"?; 1/16/16, 10:36 AM
virgil xenophon said...: 'Eat, Pray, Love " is the sort of mindless psychobabble new-age dreck that gives weight-loss and travelogue books and overwrought female teenage dairies a bad name--nevermind good/great literature.; 1/16/16, 11:00 AM
Amexpat said...: You can't imagine the extent of my attachment to his voice

I'm a fan of his writing voice, but I never have listened to his real voice.

I did hear Redford trying to do Bryson in the film, "A walk through the woods". It was on a longhaul flight and I couldn't sleep and was too tired to read. Redford's dialogue was so awful that I turned off the audio. Nick Nolte was worth watching though. Unlike Redford, he's now accepted that he's aged since his heyday. I think he would have been a better choice for Bryson.; 1/16/16, 11:13 AM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: Bill Bryson is from Iowa and one of the translations of that word is "one who puts to sleep."; 1/16/16, 12:00 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I love how he can express gentle, humorous disdain without being ugly. A rare gift, especially these days.; 1/16/16, 12:41 PM
jimbino said...: In lots of bookstores and libraries in Amerika, books on religion are shelved in the "non-fiction" section, which is astonishing. I can see where a biography or auto-biography of Billy Graham, the Pope, MLK Jr or Dr Madalyn Murray O'Hair would be (mostly) non-fiction, but surely the Bible, the Koran and, especially, the Book of Mormon must be considered nothing but pure fiction.

I wonder whether the same silliness is the rule in Britain, Germany, China and India. And do bookstores in Saudi Arabia rack the Koran under non-fiction and the Bible under fiction? How do bookstores shelve the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Gilgamesh Epic?; 1/16/16, 1:09 PM
rhhardin said...: I like Julia Roberts but I bailed out of Eat Pray Love. Just skip to the last scene and call it a day.

The Intern with Anne Hathaway is good, by the way.

I play Radio Japan news to fall asleep.; 1/16/16, 1:43 PM
Sam L. said...: I've read two of his books. I am not impressed.; 1/16/16, 2:23 PM
SteveR said...: I fall asleep by laying down and shutting my eyes. Works well although I am well aware that's not the case for everyone. I enjoyed A Short History of Nearly Everything on an audio-book but that was while driving. He does have a good voice.; 1/16/16, 2:31 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: jimbino-when I lived in Saudi Arabia, the bookstores did not stock the Bible.; 1/16/16, 2:54 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I should say "the bookstore." I believe there was exactly one in the entire city of Riyadh, and I remember it being full of expats. Arabs are not exactly known for being a highly literary society.; 1/16/16, 2:54 PM
Bill Peschel said...: Didn't know there's a new Bryson out, so thanks. Being an Anglophile, this is a two-fer and I'm looking forward to it.; 1/16/16, 3:50 PM
CatherineM said...: Thank you! Looking forward to reading this. I listen to podcasts (on the bus, cleaning, driving), but never listened to a book yet. Afraid to buy something and listen. At least a podcast is an hour or two.

All my female friends and co-workers said read Eat, Pray, Love because it is so amazing. I put it down when her sister was pregnant and they said, they will love it no matter what, as long as it's not a a Republican. You know, because that's worse than say, being born with a congenital disease or impairment! How shallow for someone who pretends to be so deep. They play the movie on a loop at Dry Bar and it's horrible. I feel bad for the employees.; 1/16/16, 4:56 PM
Bob Ellison said...: Some day I will launch a new company called Chocolate Loves You. It will mostly sell chocolate derived from Tesla-driven farms in Oregon. There will be sideline money models on YouTube and in tee shirts. It will be incredibly stupid.; 1/16/16, 5:17 PM
jr565 said...: not sure if "i use him to fall asleep to" is the best endorsement for an author to have.; 1/16/16, 5:20 PM
traditionalguy said...: I pre-ordered it at Audible. It releases 1-19-16.; 1/16/16, 6:17 PM
pm317 said...: Eat, Pray, Love was terrible despite having Julia Roberts in it. Why do people like such books/movies?; 1/16/16, 6:54 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: Actually:

I don’t consciously avoid any genres, but it IS likely you would find me lingering in the section where they keep books like 'Eat, Pray, Love' or memoirs of life with a pet.

This is where the lonely troubled women gather. Some lonely troubled women are Hot.

Compliment some book about a woman and her cat and the Hot Lonely Troubled Woman will inevitable gush to you about her cat.

This is where you say:

"I don't know, cats always like me. maybe they sense something spiritual, or something, you know?" Add a knowing winsome smile, then: nod. Nod knowingly about the Majesty and the Mystery of the Cat.

When you are back at her place PET HER CAT. If the cat avoids you, explain that you happened to have saved a stray kitten just that morning from a busy road, and Her Cat probably just smells the rescued widdle kitty's fear: Understandable.

Then.

Once you have her mouth duct-taped and her limbs bound NOW you put on a Bill Bryson audiobook. It will calm her.

Somewhat.

Nah. Not really.

Stop looking at me, Cat.

I am Laslo.; 1/16/16, 8:10 PM
Birkel said...: Tough game for the Packers.; 1/16/16, 10:39 PM
The Digital Hairshirt said...: He doesn't consciously avoid any genres but he sure as shit embraced ugly stereotypes about Southerners in his faux adventure, "A Walk in the Woods."; 1/17/16, 5:27 AM
mikee said...: For the past decade, my wife has fallen asleep to cable TV shows about murders. Gruesome, grisly, murders. Mass murders. Solved murders, and unsolved murders. Historically important murders and local drunken spouse murders. Every damn night.

I sleep lightly and treat her well. It only makes sense to do so.; 1/17/16, 10:44 AM