Once Upon a Time in the West...Country cover art

Once Upon a Time in the West...Country

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Once Upon a Time in the West...Country

By: Tony Hawks
Narrated by: Tony Hawks
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Comedian and best-selling author Tony Hawks is embarking on his greatest adventure yet - moving from city life in London to deepest Devon in the West Country.

You can take the man out of the city, but is the countryside ready for him? Comedian and born-and-bred townie Tony Hawks is not afraid of a challenge - or indeed a good bet. He's hitchhiked round Ireland with a fridge and taken on the Moldovan football team at tennis one by one. Now the time has come for his greatest gamble yet - turning his back on comfortable city life to move to the wilds of the West Country.

With his partner, Fran, in tow and their first child on the way, he embraces the rituals of village life with often absurd and hilarious results, introducing us to an ensemble of eclectic characters along the way. One minute he's taking part in a calamitous tractor run, the next he's chairing a village meeting, but of course he still finds time for one last solo adventure before fatherhood arrives - cycling coast to coast with a mini pig called Titch.

In the epic battle of man versus countryside, who will win out?

©2015 Tony Hawks (P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton
Comedy & Humour Funny City Witty Village Feel-Good Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Comedy Fatherhood
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

A Piano in the Pyrenees cover art
One Man and His Bike cover art
The Full English cover art
Dear Bill Bryson cover art
Dead Ringers: Series 1-7 Plus Specials cover art
Best Kept Secret cover art
The Self-Help Bible cover art
Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds cover art
À La Mod cover art
Head Start cover art
Another Fine Mess cover art
Alan Partridge: Nomad cover art
The Dark Tourist cover art
No Cunning Plan cover art
The Bill Bryson BBC Radio Collection cover art
Icons of England cover art

Editor reviews

One of Britain’s best-loved comedians and authors, Tony Hawks, has written and narrated his hilarious audiobook Once Upon a Time in the West…Country, a memoir of his move from big-city London life to the villages of the West Country, family in tow. Hear the trials and tribulations, the highs and lows of his challenging adaption to rural living. With good cheer and positivity, Hawks writes of the array of amusing characters he meets along the way. This book is jolly and honest, giving listeners a picturesque scene of country life from a man who tells it best. Available now from Audible.

What listeners say about Once Upon a Time in the West...Country

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    152
  • 4 Stars
    111
  • 3 Stars
    39
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    167
  • 4 Stars
    92
  • 3 Stars
    28
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    127
  • 4 Stars
    93
  • 3 Stars
    46
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    13

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it!

I'm a fan of tonys books and have read all so far. This is the first one of his I've listened to and its made me want to hear all his work read by him. A thoroughly enjoyable listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A gentle stroll through the West Country

What made the experience of listening to Once Upon a Time in the West...Country the most enjoyable?

Very humorous, his description of the characters were excellent and had me laughing out loud at certain points - if you're thinking of moving to the country, this is a good reason why!

Who was your favorite character and why?

The piglet which was an added bonus to the story

Which scene did you most enjoy?

Riding the tractor had me in stitches....

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Its a bit long to do in one sitting, its an easy return to.

Any additional comments?

Tony Hawks voice makes it....its fun and an interesting listen on making the move from the smoke to the rural life!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, interesting and features a little pig.

Great narration from Tony Hawkes full of inciteful and interesting facts. Favourite part was the charity bike ride with Titch and the last chapter.... brought a little tear to my eye. If you want to learn how to stop a tractor when the brakes fail..... read this book !

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Must

Thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end - Witty possessing true values plus a laugh out loud

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A pleasurable and well read jaunt into Devon

A funny, believable, interesting, multi-topic, cycle through British weather, pigs and childbirth with some great characters thrown in.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

It's a fun, light hearted and easy read. Hawkes' observations and gentle humour are entertaining. Few laugh out loud moments, but it's made me want to visit Devon.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing after reading previous TH titles

Rather ordinary albeit amusing in parts. Somehow cycling with the pig and the tractor episode seemed to have something missing after the fridge and tennis.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

Love his voice & all the characters. Was sad when it finished. You feel that you are right there with him through all his experiences.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Mundane

I enjoyed the other books by Tony Hawks but this one no real story mundane.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Once upon a time... Hawks went on adventures

I started reading Tony Hawks's books years ago, back when he used to travel around with a fridge, and play Moldovans at tennis, and try to get a hit single in Albania. I used to wait eagerly for his next book, ready to laugh out loud at his latest crazy exploits.

In this book he... moves to Devon. That really is it. I can't help but feel that Hawks's publishers were also a little underwhelmed by this book, given that their synopsis concludes - "in the epic battle of man versus countryside, who will win out?" Really? Did they actually read this book, or just assume its contents based on his previous stories?

That's not to say that this is a bad book. Hawks is an engaging narrator and a good storyteller. He comes across as a really nice likeable guy, so you're genuinely interested in how things turn out for him.

There is certainly a niche for books written by good storytellers about their everyday ordinary lives, and this falls squarely within it. With one exception, nothing particularly unusual or unexpected happens to Hawks. Having moved from London to Devon he simply settles into slow paced, quiet Devon life.

The thing that lets this book down a little however is that it's rather uneven. A mini-adventure that Hawks goes on with a miniature pig dominates the book, despite not being long or interesting enough to justify such focus. The seemingly minute-by-minute description of his son's birth, whilst obviously of great importance to Hawks, seems to be given rather excessive space in a book about moving to the country.

Overall I'd summarise this as "listenable". I actually finished this book, which probably puts it in the top 50% of books I've listened to, but it was something I dipped in and out of when I had nothing else to listen to, and the last hour or so was more a case of "let's get this one finished". If you're a Hawks fan, planning on moving from a city to the country, or find miniature pigs particularly cute, give it a try.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful