Narrow Dog to Indian River (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

From Virginia to Florida in an English canal boat.

Join the authors of “one of the most hilarious travel memoirs ever written”* on a wild odyssey aboard one of the most unlikely craft ever to sail U.S. waters.

No one had ever sailed an English narrowboat in the U.S. before—for reasons that become clear when Terry Darlington, his wife, Monica, and their well-traveled dog, a whippet named Jim, begin a nine-month voyage down the 1,150-mile Intracoastal Waterway. But no sooner do they set out in the seven-foot-wide Phyllis May than they encounter an ice storm in Virginia and piranhas in North Carolina. The Georgia coast is a madman’s jigsaw and in Florida the alligators wait patiently for Jim. But as they wend their way through golden marshes, incomparable cities, and lost arcadias, the intrepid trio aboard the beautiful painted boat reveals a South few of us have ever seen. And with frequent stops to dine on sweet tea, grits, and the freshest of the day’s catch, they make plenty of strange companions along the way—from wayfarers stopping to give Jim a good scratch behind the ears to ex–CIA agents and the Good Ole Boys of the Deep South—and discover that everyone has a story they’re only too willing to share.

Beautifully written, lovingly observed and very funny, Narrow Dog to Indian River takes you on a dangerous, surprising, and always entertaining journey through the wonderland of the South.

*Booklist

From the Inside Flap

Having survived their adventure through France to Carcassonne, you might have expected septuagenarians Terry and Monica Darlington (not forgetting Jim the whippet) to retire to a corner in the nearest public house. But no, seized by the spirit of Columbus, they looked to the New World and the massive and little-explored Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway which stretches from Virginia to the Gulf of Mexico…

Noone had sailed a narrowboat in the US before, for reasons that became clear during the 1,150-mile voyage of the Phyllis May– including thirty-mile sea crossings, waves, storms, fog, tornadoes, hurricanes, savage fish, poison algae, killer spiders and starving alligators.

But the real danger came from the Good Ole Boys and Girls of the Deep South who were waiting along the shore. Captains and Colonels, bums and heroes, fishermen and plantation owners, weathergirls and gongoozlers and beautiful spies, dancing dicks and the walking dead – all wanting to meet the Brits on the painted boat and their narrow dog and take them home and party them to death.

The beautiful eastern coasts of the US – the Carolinas, Charleston, Savannah, the wilds of Georgia and Florida – are unknown to many, and few have experienced the countryside and the people as closely as the crew of the Phyllis May. This is America with a smile on its face and an arm around your shoulder…

Beautifully written, lovingly observed and very funny, Narrow Dog to Indian River takes you on a sometimes dangerous, always entertaining voyage through a wonderland but a few steps off the track. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Delta (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385342098
• ISBN-13: 978-0385342094
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #68,400 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, May 15, 2009

By	Tea Time "Tea Time" (United States) - See all my reviews

After reading Narrow Dog to Carcasonne, I pre-ordered this book and looked forward to its arrival. I enjoyed this one even more than the first. Terry Darlington is a terrific writer and both books about his marine adventures are really fun to read. His writing is observant and clever, poetic, charming and witty. The tenderness of his feelings for his wife of many years adds a very special dimension to his travel adventure story. Few books make me laugh aloud but this one did several times! Perhaps I enjoyed this book so much because I'm a North Carolina immigrant, trapped here by my husband's hatred of snow and love of golf. Mr. Darlington captured the essence of the Carolina tidewater and its people: generous, naive, welcoming to everyone. I hope Terry Darlington has more books in the works for us but for the sake of his lovely Monica, I hope the Phyllis May won't cross too many more large bodies of water.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wit and wisdom in a travel adventure, June 12, 2009

By	Anne Ablett - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Narrow Dog to Indian River is a further tribute to Terry's ability to see common sights with a simile that casts an unexpected clarification of the object or scene. His powers of observation take the commonplace to a unique and beautiful comprehension.
As the pages past, I found myself not just reading but standing quietly beside Terry and Monica and observing and feeling all that they saw and said. It is wonderful read.
Often his biting satire on pompus people and decaying conditions are uncomfortably accurate as he shows us what we too often accept as acceptable. Yet even criticisms are couched in a wit that both entertains and informs. Terry does not spare himself in unveiling personal shortcomings. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, June 25, 2009

By	TRBill (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

Loved the first book, this one was at least as good if not better. I have spent time on a narrowboat and understand the love people have for them. This author is wonderful in his view of his own foibles and those around him. Hilariously good read...Buy the books, get a dog, go to the UK, rent a narrowboat and see the world completely differently.