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55th out of 781 books
—
1,336 voters
Round Ireland with a Fridge
by
Tony Hawks
Have you ever made a drunken bet? Worse still, have you ever tried to win one? In attempting to hitchhike round Ireland with a fridge, Tony Hawks did both, and his foolhardiness led him to one of the best experiences of his life. Joined by his trusty traveling companion-cum-domestic appliance, he made his way from Dublin to Donegal, from Sligo through Mayo, Galway, Clare,
...more
Paperback, 248 pages
Published
March 7th 2001
by Thomas Dunne Books
(first published 1998)
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This guy's funny. But ridiculous.
It reminds me of my travels from when I was in college, when much of the excitement was a direct result of me and my friends being stupid and broke, and consequently everything around us goes wrong. And all of us wishing we were getting laid.
Tony Hawks is basically all of those things. Except he's probably still a little less broke, a smidge more competent, and a whole lot funnier than your average idiot on a college road trip. The premise, of course, is that Haw...more
It reminds me of my travels from when I was in college, when much of the excitement was a direct result of me and my friends being stupid and broke, and consequently everything around us goes wrong. And all of us wishing we were getting laid.
Tony Hawks is basically all of those things. Except he's probably still a little less broke, a smidge more competent, and a whole lot funnier than your average idiot on a college road trip. The premise, of course, is that Haw...more
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Completely ridiculous and fun. A British man drunkenly accepts a 100 pound bet that he can't circumnavigate Ireland while hitchhiking with a small fridge (which ends up costing him 130 pounds). It's heartening to see all the people who help him out and really get behind his quest. Hawks has a real gift for laugh-out-loud funny writing. And there's something moving about the whole journey, too--the insight that can come from doing things that are a bit silly. Makes you want to find a household ap...more
This is a gimmick travel book, and the gimmick is awesome: the author made a bar bet that he could travel around Ireland with a fridge. And by "travel," I mean "hithchike."
Unfortunately, that's the funniest part of the book. The rest of it - I got the feeling the author hadn't quite settled into his narrative voice in a written medium; much of it sounded like the kind of prolonged story that'd be hilarious if someone told it to you while you were having a couple of drinks with him. That doesn't...more
Unfortunately, that's the funniest part of the book. The rest of it - I got the feeling the author hadn't quite settled into his narrative voice in a written medium; much of it sounded like the kind of prolonged story that'd be hilarious if someone told it to you while you were having a couple of drinks with him. That doesn't...more
5 likes · like · see review
Mar 21, 2008
Andrea
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Travel Enthusiasts
Recommended to Andrea by:
Nobody--I found it surfing the internet
What a fun book about a guy who lost a bet and thus hitch-hiked around Ireland with a fridge. (A true story.) I don't think I've ever laughed out loud as much as I did with this book. My only "complaint" would be that there wasn't enough info about the actual cities that he visited--I would have liked to learn more. The focus was really on the people, friendships and pubs. Definitely a fun read though if you're into travel books and can see the humor in hitch-hiking around Ireland with a fridge!...more
Listened to this as an Audio book read by Tony Hawks himself.
I remember Tony Hawks from the Stutter Rap and from 'Whose line is it anyway', so when I had a couple of credit from Audible I hadn't used I decided to try two of his audio books. 'A Piano in the Pyrenees' and 'Round Ireland with a Fridge'.
To this book though, Tony is a good narrator and the journey he has following a drunken bet with a friend in a pub that he would go around the whole of Ireland with a fridge is well read. Tony is fun...more
I remember Tony Hawks from the Stutter Rap and from 'Whose line is it anyway', so when I had a couple of credit from Audible I hadn't used I decided to try two of his audio books. 'A Piano in the Pyrenees' and 'Round Ireland with a Fridge'.
To this book though, Tony is a good narrator and the journey he has following a drunken bet with a friend in a pub that he would go around the whole of Ireland with a fridge is well read. Tony is fun...more
Originally published on my blog here in February 2000.
Tony Hawks once did a comedy show in Ireland, and saw the bizarre sight of someone hitch-hiking with a fridge as though this were a perfectly normal thing to do. Telling this to a group of friends back in England led to a drunken bet that he could hitch-hike all the way around Ireland in under a month, with a fridge.
The story of the journey is amusing, but the reaction he gets is much what you would expect, bemused but genial helpfulness. The...more
Tony Hawks once did a comedy show in Ireland, and saw the bizarre sight of someone hitch-hiking with a fridge as though this were a perfectly normal thing to do. Telling this to a group of friends back in England led to a drunken bet that he could hitch-hike all the way around Ireland in under a month, with a fridge.
The story of the journey is amusing, but the reaction he gets is much what you would expect, bemused but genial helpfulness. The...more
I was disappointed, really wanted to like it. I didn't laugh once-maybe British humor is beyond me, but it seemed to me he was looking down his nose at the Irish, and seemed to think they were all nutcases-this from a man trailing a mini-fridge. It would have interested me more if he wasn't a celebrity attracting attention-seems like most of his rides were pre-arranged due to the publicity. It would have been a totally different book if he'd been anonymous and actually hitched rides; he whined w...more
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I think this is my second or possibly even my third time 'round Ireland with Tony Hawks and his Fridge, and I'm afraid the frayed edges are showing a bit, or perhaps it's just my changed circumstances are requiring more to lift me out of the reader doldrums. I bought this paperback to add to my collection of Irish classics (and that's a very personal category, consisting amongst others of the guy who walks around Ireland with a donkey and cart, the guy (from the Philadelphia area - my home town)...more
This book was awesome-- it's soo the type of travelogue I love to read. The title alone is enough to make you want to read it (and the cover, as tattered as it may be), but the premise behind his quest really hooked me. I read this book in about 2 days, and can honestly say that there wasn't a boring part to be found. In fact, I found myself laughing out loud at some of the people and situations he encountered, or just the way he described them. He's definitely got a way with humor, which I'm su...more
Nov 02, 2011
Jan-Maat
added it
This is deeply, throughly OK, middle of the road inoffensive book, unless you are a fridge in which case you will probably not approve of being moved around the countryside. Fridges like to settle down. Movement can cause bubbles in the coolant tubes which is generally bad news.
It's exactly the kind of gently amusing book that you'd expect to result from somebody deciding to do something stupid for a bet. Had Hawks tried to do this in a less prosperous part of the world a good part of the narra...more
It's exactly the kind of gently amusing book that you'd expect to result from somebody deciding to do something stupid for a bet. Had Hawks tried to do this in a less prosperous part of the world a good part of the narra...more
In Round Ireland with a Fridge, Tony Hawks goes hitchhiking around Ireland with a fridge in tow on a drunken bet. Along the way, he meets some interesting people, including a phony king, a nun and more town drunks that you can count all the while becoming the talk of Ireland.
I really enjoyed this book. I didn't know what to expect from this book when I borrowed it from a fellow book club member. I don't read a whole lot of nonfiction, but when she said she liked it and that was good enough for...more
I really enjoyed this book. I didn't know what to expect from this book when I borrowed it from a fellow book club member. I don't read a whole lot of nonfiction, but when she said she liked it and that was good enough for...more
This book written by the British author/comedian Tony Hawks, not the American Skateboarder Tony Hawks,and is a hilarious adventure into the Republic of Ireland where the odder you appear to be, the more you are embraced by its people.
Round Ireland with a Fridge is a true story, about Tony Hawks who took a bet that he could travel around the Republic of Ireland with a fridge, only by hitchhiking within one calendar month. The bet being for 100 pounds. However, the tale is that much more hilarious...more
Round Ireland with a Fridge is a true story, about Tony Hawks who took a bet that he could travel around the Republic of Ireland with a fridge, only by hitchhiking within one calendar month. The bet being for 100 pounds. However, the tale is that much more hilarious...more
This is a pretty fun read. I was initially skeptical that the premise - a guy fulfilling the terms of a crazy, drunken bet - would make for a good story. After the first couple of stops on his journey, I was worried that the whole thing would read like one long, geographically-ambitious pub crawl. But he managed to construct an arc to the story, giving character to each group of people he met, usually just in the span of a few pages. He also avoided making the potentially-dreadful mistake of tre...more
Apr 30, 2009
Barbara
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Barbara by:
Lesley - thanks!
Shelves:
travel
Too much fun! Really enjoyed this off-kilter account of a man, a fridge, and a bet to hitchhike around Ireland. I don't know much about Tony Hawks except for what the book jacket says, but he tells a good story!
Following a late-night bar bet, Tony finds himself setting out from Dublin with a small fridge on a trolley, a rucksack and high hopes of hitchhiking around Ireland. Granted, he did get a bit of a boost from a nationally-heard radio show but his adventures, the people he met, time in pub...more
Following a late-night bar bet, Tony finds himself setting out from Dublin with a small fridge on a trolley, a rucksack and high hopes of hitchhiking around Ireland. Granted, he did get a bit of a boost from a nationally-heard radio show but his adventures, the people he met, time in pub...more
"The more foolish, illogical, or surreal one's actions were perceived to be (and mine surely fell into one of these categories), the wider the arms of hospitality were opened in salutation."
Tony Hawks knows how to make you laugh, even when you don't want to. I've earned my fair share of strange looks after I burst out with a chuckle at this book. In the first pages of recounting how the sordid wager to travel around Ireland with fridge in tow came about, Hawks paints a picture of the bizarre. On...more
Tony Hawks knows how to make you laugh, even when you don't want to. I've earned my fair share of strange looks after I burst out with a chuckle at this book. In the first pages of recounting how the sordid wager to travel around Ireland with fridge in tow came about, Hawks paints a picture of the bizarre. On...more
Tony Hawks took on a bet and set out to hitchhike around the perimeter of Ireland, with a small fridge in tow, in less than one month. As an aside, I'll never understand how people who write this sort of book remember all the details -- even with a journal, I'd still get confused and mix up who/what/where.
The big draw of Round Ireland with a Fridge is the humor, no doubt. I laughed out loud a few times -- mostly in the beginning -- and Hawks is good at entertaining the reader, even when describi...more
The big draw of Round Ireland with a Fridge is the humor, no doubt. I laughed out loud a few times -- mostly in the beginning -- and Hawks is good at entertaining the reader, even when describi...more
I abandoned this after about 100 pages. Although the Tony Hawks said he did it for a bet, I suspect it was of a publicity stunt. One of the first things he did on arriving in Ireland was contact a radio station and he got most of hislifts through that, not really from hitchiking. My main gripe with this book was that he didn't seem that interested in Ireland or the Irish. Most of the time, when he described someone he was poking fun at their quirks and eccentricities, which was rich, coming from...more
This is the true story of a man who was bet 100 pounds that he couldn't hitchhike around Ireland with a fridge in a month (later becomes a mini-fridge). Written by a comedian, and actually pretty funny. There are parts where I want more of the story, but in general he does a good job of recanting his journey in an amusing way. One thing you've got to give him by the end, he embraces the meaninglessness of his journey in a way few of us could.
This book has definately put "hitchhike around Irelan...more
This book has definately put "hitchhike around Irelan...more
May 16, 2009
Fox
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Krissy, Haley, Maura
Recommended to Fox by:
Townes v. Z.
What a delightful book! The Fridge Man had it far too easy, relying primarily off of his own publicity in order to get rides. I would have liked it if he had had to overcome more adversity in the horrors of rural Ireland. Or if he had at least gotten into a few fights. As it was, this book was a lighthearted testimony to the absurd. Which was pretty fine by me.
The back of the book had promised that it would owe some to Bill Bryson, and I found that it did, but without some of Bryson's more endea...more
The back of the book had promised that it would owe some to Bill Bryson, and I found that it did, but without some of Bryson's more endea...more
I picked this book up because we will be traveling to Ireland in the near future. I saw that it had a map in the front and thought it might make reference to different areas of interest. The title caught my attention so I gave it a whirl. I liked the author’s writing style. It definitely made reference to the author’s experiences at various pubs and where he stayed. The topic started losing interest about ¾ of the way through the book. However, I learned about Ireland from a betting man’s perspe...more
Feb 02, 2013
Inga
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
stuff,
travel-literature
Nach einer im Suff entstandenen Wette macht sich der britische Comedian und Songwriter Tony Hawks (nicht zu verwechseln mit dem Skater Tony Hawk) auf den Weg nach Irland, um mit einem Kühlschrank einmal rund um die Insel zu trampen. Auf etwa 370 Seiten berichtet er von seinen Erlebnissen und der Hilfsbereitschaft und der Gastfreundschaft der Iren, die sich intensiv an diesem skurrilen Unternehmen erfreuen können.
Das Buch ist in leichtem, mit schwarzem Humor durchsetzten Stil verfasst, der Grundt...more
Das Buch ist in leichtem, mit schwarzem Humor durchsetzten Stil verfasst, der Grundt...more
It began with a bet. Too much drinking and too much time to think of something absurd. Tony finds a paper with the bet on it. The paper tells him that he won a hundred pounds (or something like it) if he travels round ireland with a fridge. A lot of fun to read and the irish like drinking. He meets crazy people in Ireland and learns a lot about himself.
It's a nice and funny read. Nothing worldshaking and not a book for some deep thoughts.
(view spoiler)...more
It's a nice and funny read. Nothing worldshaking and not a book for some deep thoughts.
(view spoiler)...more
Masterpiece.
At first I thought that this book is going to be like many other stories about traveling. The book is not that kind of stories, definitely. Apart from many jokes and humorous stories, Tony Hawks is brilliant author. He not only shows how easy and hard it could be to travel with a fridge around the Ireland, but how many things could happen because of a simple domestic appliance - the fridge.
As he mentioned, he didn't make "look at me" things often (he did so at least once and notice...more
At first I thought that this book is going to be like many other stories about traveling. The book is not that kind of stories, definitely. Apart from many jokes and humorous stories, Tony Hawks is brilliant author. He not only shows how easy and hard it could be to travel with a fridge around the Ireland, but how many things could happen because of a simple domestic appliance - the fridge.
As he mentioned, he didn't make "look at me" things often (he did so at least once and notice...more
This is a wonderful joke, and Tony Hawks a marvelous comedian: "Why subject yourself to untold pain and deprivation when popping to the shops and back followed by a bit of a sit down, is an option? Why explore when you can tidy? Why sail singlehandedly when you can read singlehandedly, trek when you can taxi, abseil when you can take the stairs, stand when you can sit or listen to Neil Sedaka's Greatest Hits when you can take your own life? (p. 5) but it's hard to sustain the hilarity for a mo...more
This book was Very enjoyable. I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading it. But it turned out to be just as I expected, haha. If that makes any sense.
It's Funny, it's interesting. Beautiful landscapes fully described, a lot of interesting details on Ireland and it's past. The colorful people he meets are just the people you'd expect him to meet. Very generous, and friendly. And oddly enough after reading it, hitch-hiking through Ireland with a fridge really doesn't sound that cr...more
It's Funny, it's interesting. Beautiful landscapes fully described, a lot of interesting details on Ireland and it's past. The colorful people he meets are just the people you'd expect him to meet. Very generous, and friendly. And oddly enough after reading it, hitch-hiking through Ireland with a fridge really doesn't sound that cr...more
This book has a fabulous idea. Something random, spontaneous, and pointless. I love it! Unfortunately I thought the idea was better than the book. It seems that Tony Hawks is not much of a writer and possibly not much of a comedian. I couldn't stay engrossed in his story and my mind kept wondering if he had known he was going to write a book when he started. If he had kept notes. Why he never seemed to walk when he found himself in a bad hitching spot. What the other people involved would think...more
I first read this book back in 2002 when I was in Tanzania. So 10 years later on, I thought that I would read it again - it was completely unprovoked honestly and had nothing to do with catching the end of the new film that has been made of the book.
This book made me laugh out loud ten years ago, and it did exactly the same this time round. It's just a mad story, you question at times as to how much of it can possibly be true!
Tony Hawks writes about his travels with ease, humour and a lot of can...more
This book made me laugh out loud ten years ago, and it did exactly the same this time round. It's just a mad story, you question at times as to how much of it can possibly be true!
Tony Hawks writes about his travels with ease, humour and a lot of can...more
This became a *page-a-day* book. It tells the story of a fellow who took a bet to hitch around the perimeter of Ireland while pulling a fridge on a trolley behind him. I chose it because it was supposed to be funny and because I love tales of the Irish people. It was mildly amusing at times and had a few tales of the good nature of many of the Irish. What impressed me the most in the telling was the notion that a national radio show took up the topic of the travel which made the trip an *event*...more
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This book is a hilarious travel journal that came out of a drunken bet that it couldn't be done. The wager was 100 pounds sterling. The author once he sobered up realized that the cost of the fridge alone was going to make the money mute. His pride and off beat personality made him take it on.
It is a very witty view of Ireland and all of her intricacies. He hitch hikes around Ireland with the fridge and gets noticed after a Dublin radio show host interviews him and asks his listeners to look out...more
It is a very witty view of Ireland and all of her intricacies. He hitch hikes around Ireland with the fridge and gets noticed after a Dublin radio show host interviews him and asks his listeners to look out...more
This book captures a slice of life. In a way, it captures a super-concentrated life, as Tony experiences quite a lot in just a month. The book provides snapshots of the lives of all the people Tony encounters--people in bars, people who work in hotels, tourists, the radio people, the king of Tory. Tony writes about all these people in a personal way that allows us to see them, just people we would never know otherwise. And in the process, Tony forms connections with all of them. It doesn't matte...more
1 like · like · see review
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romance Readers R...: April BR - Round Ireland With A Fridge | 17 | 31 | Apr 05, 2013 09:33am | |
| Books to Read Before Traveling to Ireland | 2 | 15 | Jan 10, 2013 12:36pm |
Tony Hawks, is a British comedian and author, famous for his Quizotic travel accounts undertaking bizarre wagers with friends. Hawks performs stand-up comedy, and is a regular on TV and radio panel games in the UK, including I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, Just a Minute, The Unbelievable Truth and Have I Got News for You, although he first came to prominence as one of two resident performers — the oth...more
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“One guy, seeing that I was hungry, insisted on buying me a huge lunch and when I thanked him for his kindness, he simply said, 'Pass it on.' I liked this selfless concept - repay me by rewarding someone else entirely with a generous dollop of goodwill.”
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7 people liked it
“One of the more tiring aspects of hitchhiking is a need to be sociable and make conversation with whoever is driving you. It would be considered poor form to accept a ride, hop into the passenger seat and then simply to crash out until you reached your destination. How I longed to do just that, but instead I chatted merrily away, energy ebbing from me with each sentence, until Chris dropped me at the address of the lady who had offered me free B&B.
One of the more tiring aspect of accepting an offer of free accommodation is a need to be sociable and make conversation with whoever had offered it to you. It would be considered poor form to turn up, dumb your bags, crawl into your bedroom and order an early morning alarm call. How I longed to do just that, but instead I chatted merrily away to Marjorie, energy ebbing from me with each sentence, until the tea was drunk, the cake was eaten and I finally plucked up the courage to mention just how exhausted I was. I apologised and said that I simply had to grab a couple of hours sleep, and Marjorie understandingly showed me to my room.”
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3 people liked it
More quotes…
One of the more tiring aspect of accepting an offer of free accommodation is a need to be sociable and make conversation with whoever had offered it to you. It would be considered poor form to turn up, dumb your bags, crawl into your bedroom and order an early morning alarm call. How I longed to do just that, but instead I chatted merrily away to Marjorie, energy ebbing from me with each sentence, until the tea was drunk, the cake was eaten and I finally plucked up the courage to mention just how exhausted I was. I apologised and said that I simply had to grab a couple of hours sleep, and Marjorie understandingly showed me to my room.”
