True Brits: A Tour of Britain In All Its Bog-Snorkeling, Shin-Kicking and Cheese-Rolling Glory [Paperback]

J. R. Daeschner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2005

FOR FANS OF BILL BRYSON, A HILARIOUS ACCOUNT OF THE ANTICS AND UTTERLY STRANGE TRADITIONS OF GREAT BRITAIN. When J.R. Daeschner first witnessed cheese rolling, he was astounded. As an American who had lived in the U.K. for years, he knew the British did some odd things. However nothing could have prepared him for the sight of men and women flinging themselves off a grassy cliff in pursuit of wheels of cheese. He soon discovered that Britain has scores of seemingly lunatic acts enshrined as traditions: events with strange names like gurning (a match held since 1267 in which contestants compete to pull the ugliest facial expression); shin kicking (another breathtakingly stupid competition in which two contestants kick each other until one falls over in a pile of sheep manure); horn dancing (drunken villagers parading while adorned with deer antlers); and the ever-popular pope burning (an event in which the Pope is burned in effigy). Each of these events, and many more, is covered in this highly entertaining account of one man's journey through Britain.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Daeschner, an American journalist living in England, loves strange rituals. It's better if they're centuries old and designed to promote fertility (the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance) or ward off evil (Burry Man's Day), but newly invented ones (bog snorkeling in Llanwrtyd Wells) designed for tourists are okay, too. Readers spend the first hundred pages wading through some less exciting oddities: a day of drunken skirmishes over a wad of leather (the Haxey Hood), villagers hurtling themselves off cliffs after a wheel of cheese (the Cooper's Hill Cheese Roll) and shin-kicking wrestling contests (the Cotswold Olimpicks). Perhaps these events are thrilling in person; on the page, they boil down to getting drunk, getting battered, cleaning up and getting drunk again. Fortunately, Daeschner moves onto more quirky, intriguing rituals, like Burry Man's Day, when a primordial Green Man parades the streets of South Queensferry, drinking, of course, but also carrying away the sins of grateful townspeople. Alas, Daeschner closes with two "traditions"--Bonfire Night in Lewes and Darkie Day in Padstow--that he can't quite characterize. Perhaps he's simply visited with too many eccentrics and can no longer draw a meaningful line between hate-mongers burning effigies of their enemies and good old English fun. It's an unfortunate ending to what's otherwise a light-headed romp. Photos. Agent, Lizzy Kremer at Ed Victor. (Mar.)
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Review

...The reporting is energetic and exploratory...Atmospheric, entertaining travelogue. -- Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2005

An insightful travel narrative in the tradition of Bill Bryson's Notes From a Small Island; recommended for public/academic libraries. -- Library Journal, March 1, 2005

Daeschner, an American journalist living in England loves strange rituals...quirky, intriguing rituals...a light-headed romp. -- Publisher's Weekly, March 1, 2005

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Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP (March 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158567656X
• ISBN-13: 978-1585676569
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,042,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars U. K. Vacation Planning for the Truly Jaded, February 6, 2007

By 

Anne deFuria "Blogging Librarian" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Brits: A Tour of Britain In All Its Bog-Snorkeling, Shin-Kicking and Cheese-Rolling Glory (Paperback)

True Brit describes arcane British traditions which reinforce the stereotype of the (alleged) British tolerance, or even love, of eccentrics. The author tracks down strange yearly rituals in the United Kingdom and reports on them in a wry, sardonic style.It would be hard to report on them in any other style though. The annual cheese rolling event in Cheddar Gorge was banned at one point in its not-so-venerable history because of the dangers inherent in hurling oneself down a very steep, rocky hillside in pursuit of a hurtling wheel of cheddar cheese. The interviews with the local participants and voyeurs are a study in understatement in the face of extreme methods of recreation which usually result in injury of some sort, sometimes on a rather grand scale.
This book will inspire readers to slowly shake their heads in dumb-founded astonishment that people will do the weirdest things because it's traditional and that other people will inevitably gather around to watch the ensuing mishaps and embarrassments. In that spirit, I recommend it for anyone who would like to plan a "completely different" vacation in Britain with stopovers at some of the towns or villages which host these astoundingly odd examples of group fanaticism.

5.0 out of 5 stars Britain's bizarre links to America, April 20, 2005

By 

Jon Bell "Jon" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Brits: A Tour of Britain In All Its Bog-Snorkeling, Shin-Kicking and Cheese-Rolling Glory (Paperback)

This is a fun and fascinating read, revealing a side of Britain -- and America -- that few people have ever heard of. Daeschner takes us inside a game of Mob Football, the roots of our very own Superbowl, and also risks his legs in Shin Kicking, while recounting a particularly vicious match in Pennsylvania, of all places. Among many other events, he explains how "Darkie Day" in Britain's West Country was inspired by American black-faced minstrels (think Al Jolson): to this day, the Cornish darken their faces and dance around singing songs by Stephen Foster! Daeschner's stated aim is to show "everything that makes Britain great -- and at times, not so great," and he does an excellent job at doing just that, without shying away from controversial subjects. Perfect for Anglophiles and Anglophobes alike. Five stars.