Product Description

"We could bore ourselves to death, drink ourselves to death, or have a bit of an adventure..." It was absurd. It was foolhardy. And it was glorious. When they retired, Terry Darlington and his somewhat saner wife Monica—together with their dog, a whippet named Jim—chucked their earthbound life and set out in an utterly unseaworthy sixty-foot canal narrowboat across the notoriously treacherous English Channel and down to the South of France.

Aboard the Phyllis May, you’ll dive through six-foot waves in the Channel and be swept down the terrible Rhône. You’ll meet the French nobody meets—poets, captains, scholars, madmen; they all want to know the couple on the painted boat and their narrow dog. You’ll visit the France nobody knows—the backwaters of Flanders, the canals beneath Paris, and the forbidden routes to the wine-dark Mediterranean Sea. Aliens, trolls, gongoozlers, killer fish, and the walking dead all stand between our two-person, one-whippet crew and their goal: the ancient, many-towered city of Carcassonne.

A tale of travel, travail, dubious wine, a balky pump, and a boat built for only a few feet of water, this exuberantly inventive and hugely entertaining odyssey of the spirit, senses, and heart will enchant lovers of France, England, and all that lies between.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69769 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-25
• Released on: 2008-03-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
As husband-and-wife pensioners, Brits Terry and Monica Darlington sail their barge down the English canal system, along the Thames, past London, to Paris on the Seine and down the Rhône to Carcassonne, France. Along the way, they introduce the folks who make their homes on the water. They avoid teenage vandals, fail to teach their beloved whippet, Jim, to hunt rabbits and sail across the English Channel after nearly every informed acquaintance advises otherwise. The mixture of British vernacular and boating terms in this book originally published in England will leave some readers adrift. Yet the style echoes the author's clear zest for living in the moment. Frequent flashes of wit and poetic prose capture poignant emotions. The addendum of French phrases entitled French in Fifteen Minutes nicely sums up differences in the French and British cultures and makes clear the author's own mistakes while navigating a foreign language and culture. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
In a narrow boat built strictly for inland canals, two British retirees and their whippet sail across the English Channel, into the Mediterranean, and up to Carcassonne, France. Having committed to the journey in a barroom dare, the husband believes his honor is at stake. Steve Hodson reads the first-person account as if it were his own. He captures every accent, from Oxford English to Schwabishe German, without flaw. Hodson also conveys the understated British humor making up most of the story, keeping the listener laughing throughout. Wry asides about the whippet's sex drive and fear of water mix with horrifying tales of storms at sea and social gaffes at the dock. One never knows what the travelers will next encounter, and never wants the story to end. R.L.L. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2007 Audies Award Finalist © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
"Written with the author's glorious sense of humor, this is one of those journeys you never want to end."—Good Book Guide, UK

“A rich and winning comic debut, destined to become a classic.”—Daily Telegraph, UK

“One of the most hilarious travel memoirs ever written!”—Booklist

Customer Reviews

Narrow dog...wide fun
I must admit that I have been to the UK and have been on a narrow boat. This book is hilarious, warm, endearing and I cannot wait to get the new book. Anyone who has ever traveled, either with a dog or children to someplace completely unfamiliar will appreciate the author's experiences. If you have been on one of the uniquely British narrowboats you are even more enraptured with the book. If you have been on a motorhome for a long trip, especially with children, you will appreciate Jim (the narrow dog). I must admit that Americans will have trouble with some of the English usage but it is well worth it. Wonderful book, wonderful story, wonderful people.
WH

"Narrow dog"was terrific!
We've driven a barge to Carcassonne and the auther captures the experience. However, it was his sense if humor that kept us helpless.

enjoy narrowdog
If you like travel and/or boats and/or dogs and/or a writer with humor and quotes from classics to films, this book will be right up your...canal. Funny and disarming, showing the downside moments as well as the champagne highs of taking a narrowboat across the Channel and, even more scaringly, down through France, not a dull page in the lot.

I can't wait to see what happens when Terry and Monica and Jim the Narrow Dog come to my home country in the US.

I read it in two sittings.
BarbV