diff --git a/aeson-value-parser.cabal b/aeson-value-parser.cabal
--- a/aeson-value-parser.cabal
+++ b/aeson-value-parser.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name: aeson-value-parser
-version: 0.18
+version: 0.18.1
 synopsis: API for parsing "aeson" JSON tree into Haskell types
 description:
   A flexible parser DSL of JSON AST produced by the \"aeson\" library
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
     mtl >=2.2 && <3,
     scientific ==0.3.*,
     text ==1.*,
+    text-builder >=0.6.6.1 && <0.7,
     transformers >=0.5 && <0.7,
     unordered-containers ==0.2.*,
     vector >=0.10 && <0.13
diff --git a/library/Aeson/ValueParser.hs b/library/Aeson/ValueParser.hs
--- a/library/Aeson/ValueParser.hs
+++ b/library/Aeson/ValueParser.hs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 (
   Value,
   run,
+  runWithTextError,
   Error.Error(..),
   -- * Value parsers
   object,
@@ -92,6 +93,10 @@
     Aeson.Number _ -> "Unexpected type: number"
     Aeson.Bool _ -> "Unexpected type: bool"
     Aeson.Null -> "Unexpected type: null"
+
+{-# INLINE runWithTextError #-}
+runWithTextError :: Value a -> Aeson.Value -> Either Text a
+runWithTextError parser = left Error.toText . run parser
 
 runString :: String a -> Text -> Either (Maybe Text) a
 runString (String a) b = runExcept (runReaderT a b)
diff --git a/library/Aeson/ValueParser/Error.hs b/library/Aeson/ValueParser/Error.hs
--- a/library/Aeson/ValueParser/Error.hs
+++ b/library/Aeson/ValueParser/Error.hs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 where
 
 import Aeson.ValueParser.Prelude
+import qualified Data.Text as Text
+import qualified Text.Builder as TextBuilder
 
 
 data Error = Error [Text] {-^ Path -} Text {-^ Message -}
@@ -16,6 +18,9 @@
 instance IsString Error where
   fromString = message . fromString
 
+instance Show Error where
+  show = Text.unpack . toText
+
 {-# INLINE indexed #-}
 indexed :: Int -> Error -> Error
 indexed = named . fromString . show
@@ -27,3 +32,12 @@
 {-# INLINE message #-}
 message :: Text -> Error
 message = Error []
+
+toText :: Error -> Text
+toText = TextBuilder.run . toTextBuilder
+
+toTextBuilder :: Error -> TextBuilder.Builder
+toTextBuilder (Error path message) =
+  "AST parsing error at path " <>
+  foldMap (\ x -> "/" <> TextBuilder.text x) path <> ": " <>
+  TextBuilder.text message