Round Ireland with a Fridge

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About this listen

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 travelling companion-cum-domestic appliance, he found himself in the midst of a remarkable adventure, at times emotional, at times inspirational, but more often than not, downright silly.

Only in the magical land of Ireland could such a notion lead to such fruitful adventure. Here is his record of the unlikely pair's fortunes as they made their way from Dublin to Donegal, from Sligo through Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Wexford, Wicklow, and back again to Dublin.

In their month of madness, Tony and his fridge met a real prince and a bogus one; they surfed together and entered a bachelor festival; the fridge was christened; and one of the pair had sex without the other knowing. And unexpectedly, the fridge itself became a momentary focus for the people of Ireland. As the days rolled by, the fridge grew into a personality in its own right, developing its own identity and bringing people together wherever it went.

Tony HawksTony HawksPenguin Audio

Europe

European

Literary History & Criticism

Travel Writing & Commentary

Western Europe

World Literature

Funny

Europe European Literary History & Criticism Travel Writing & Commentary Western Europe World Literature Funny

Critic reviews

"A lively celebration of contemporary Irish society and the goodwill of its people." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Not just brilliantly written, but far too hilarious to read alone in a public place." ( The Independent)
" Round Ireland with a Fridge...is a sort of alternative Michael Palin tome and a far better read than you would expect. It is part autobiography, part travelogue, and part Guinness-addled ramblings." ( Irish Times)

Most relevant

I made the mistake of buying this version and was glad of Audible's return policy. About 45 mins in I realised that the story seemed to be moving very fast. Then I looked at the reviews and discovered that this is the abridged version. The unabridged version isn't available from Audible and is difficult to find elsewhere, particularly because this one isn't labelled as abridged. The listings for audiobooks on many sites are so lacking in detail that they don't even list the duration, so it took me ages to find a site with the unabridged version. Then it turned out that the site I'd found it on was no longer actually selling it! From what I can ascertain, I think it's a rights issue and this isn't a popular enough title for vendors to seek out the currently valid rights. I'm lucky that one vendor did so. Audible may remove this comment if I name that vendor, so instead here's what to search for. This abridged version is 3 hrs 3 mins in duration and was published by Cornerstone Digital in February 2006. The one you want is 9 hrs 46 mins long and was published in 2010 by Random House UK.

I've just begun the unabridged version and it's wonderful. It makes a lot more sense than the abridged version! As to the reading performance, as an Irishman Tony's "oirish" accent is annoying, but I'm a big fan of his so I don't mind it too much. It's an insult to the late great 2fm broadcaster Gerry Ryan though as he had a wonderful voice, there are many clips on YouTube if you want to judge for yourself.