Ben Aitken Collection 3 Books Set (The Gran Tour, A Chip Shop in Poznan, Dear Bill Bryson)

The Ben Aitken Collection brings together three travel titles: The Gran Tour, A Chip Shop in Poznan and Dear Bill Bryson. Each book follows Aitken as he sets out with a clear idea in mind, from joining a coach holiday inspired by his grandmother’s bargain break, to relocating abroad out of curiosity, to retracing a well-known journey around the UK.

Across the set, the writing centres on first-hand experiences and the decisions that shape them. The three books are linked by movement, observation and a willingness to start from scratch in unfamiliar places, whether that means signing up repeatedly for a particular kind of trip, taking on minimum-wage work, or travelling with a literary route as a guide.

Included titles

• The Gran Tour
• A Chip Shop in Poznan
• Dear Bill Bryson

Key details

• Three-book set by Ben Aitken
• Includes The Gran Tour, A Chip Shop in Poznan and Dear Bill Bryson
• Dear Bill Bryson follows a journey around the UK inspired by Notes from a Small Island
• A Chip Shop in Poznan is set around a move to Poland in 2016 and work in a chip shop on minimum wage

Synopses

The Gran Tour

After hearing about his grandmother’s four-night holiday, Ben Aitken signs himself up for the same kind of trip. The break includes four three-course dinners, four cooked breakfasts, four games of bingo, a pair of excursions, sixteen pints of lager and luxury return coach travel, all for a hundred pounds. He books it six times.

A Chip Shop in Poznan

In 2016 Ben Aitken moves to Poland while he still can, driven by curiosity rather than love. He wants to understand what Polish people in the UK have left behind. He flies to a place he has never heard of and takes a minimum-wage job in a chip shop.

Dear Bill Bryson

In 2013 travel writer Ben Aitken decides to follow in his hero’s footsteps, literally, by travelling around the UK. He traces the trip taken by Bill Bryson in Notes from a Small Island, described as a classic tribute to the British Isles.