Rambling Man

Description

From America to the Arctic and from Nepal to New Zealand, Rambling Man is Billy Connolly’s love letter to the locations, people and incredible adventures that have resulted from a life on the open road.

Being a Rambling Man was what I always wanted to be, to live the way I damn well pleased. I’ve met the weirdest and most wonderful people who walk the Earth, seen the most bizarre and the most fantastic sights – and I’ve rarely come across something I couldn’t get a laugh at. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad trip. Well, apart from in the 1970s, but that’s a whole other story . . .

When Billy set out from Glasgow as a young man he never looked back. He played his banjo on boats and trains, under trees, and on top of famous monuments. He danced naked in snow, wind and fire. He slept in bus stations, under bridges and on strangers’ floors. He travelled by foot, bike, ship, plane, sleigh – even piggy-backed – to get to his next destination.

Billy has wandered to every corner of the earth and believes that being a Rambling Man is about more than just travelling – it’s a state of mind. Rambling Men and Women are free spirits who live on their wits, are interested in people and endlessly curious about the world. They love to play music, make art or tell stories along the way but, above all, they have a longing in their heart for the open road.

In his joyful new book, Billy explores this philosophy and how it has shaped him, and he shares hilarious new stories from his lifetime on the road. From riding his trike down America’s famous Route 66, building an igloo on an iceberg in the Arctic, playing elephant polo (badly) in Nepal and crashing his motorbike (more than once), to eating witchetty grubs in Australia, being serenaded by a penguin in New Zealand, and swapping secrets in a traditional Sweat Lodge ritual in Canada, Rambling Man is a truly global adventure with the greatest possible travel companion.

This cheerful, joyously life-affirming ramble to every corner of the Earth should make you want to pick up your banjo and set out on the open road. On the other hand, we can’t all be Billy Connolly, still Britain’s greatest living comedian; and we won’t usually be accompanied by a TV crew. Being a rambling man, says Connolly, is a state of mind: they are free spirits, enterprising and endlessly curious about the world . . . Full of excellent jokes and engaging anecdotes, this book makes you feel good to be alive. – Daily Mail, RAMBLING MAN

Our greatest living comedian . . . an easy-going ramble around his life and times. What a legend. He does make me laugh. – Roger Lewis, Daily Mail Book of the Week*, RAMBLING MAN

An ode to the restless soul, chronicling Billy’s lifetime wanderings in his usual charming, irreverent and hilarious style. – The Guardian, RAMBLING MAN

A funny, life-affirming rhapsody . . . The Big Yin is an actual comic genius. He’s led an extraordinary life. At no point, however, during this jolly globe-trotting tome will you detect a hint of self-aggrandisement or fake humility. He’s just so grateful and delighted. His romantic hippie outlook and generosity of spirit are infectious. – Big Issue, RAMBLING MAN

[This is] not a standard travelogue; nothing about Connolly is ever that straightforward . . . The book is written in Connolly’s voice and vernacular, and is shot through with his standard wit. There are more belly-laughs than you get in an entire series of an average sitcom . . . This is no mere celebrity memoir however. Connolly can write compellingly. – Irish Times, RAMBLING MAN