australia and oceania

This book is an excellent introduction to this vast country that is Australia. In his journal, Bryson recounts all of his adventures and all of his yawns while down under. And he goes everywhere too! Whatever part of Australia you might be interested in whether it be Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Cairns, Darwin, Alice Springs, Perth or Surfer's Paradise it's all in this book.

Unlike most travel companions that try to convince you that every spot is worth your time, Bryson is brutally honest. If a place is boring and the pits, he'll let you know.

I definitely recommend this book both as a travel guide and as a comic adventure. Bill Bryson's writing style is hilarious. The only people I might not recommend this book to are those who might not have the time or financial resources to ever go to Australia. After reading In a Sunburned Country, you'll wish you were there.

I live in New Zealand, which most of you Amazonians will regard as being so close and similar to Australia that I'd hardly find a travel book on our Western neighbour at all novel or interesting.

Not so. Australia is a weird and strange continent, a place where you can buy a bong at a gas station, where dingoes might or might not eat babies, and where the cops will call you "mate" before chucking you in the paddy wagon.

This catalogue of oddities, along with the fact that Bill Bryson is the finest travel writer to ever wear a tweed jacket and look gently bewildered, convinced me to buy this book (titled "Down Under" here for some reason) as soon as it became available.

And a very enjoyable book it is too. I've read a few of Bill Bryson's books; possibly all of them. His earlier sniffs at the curious underbellies of Europe and the US accompanied me as I chuckled my way around each continent. Mother Tongue and Made in America are favourites; A Walk in the Woods certainly not. In a Sunburned Country was familiarly enjoyable. I like a guy who finds everything interesting (even boring things) and I like a guy who can write about the things he finds interesting in an interesting way. I like a guy who'll drive all day to watch stomatites bubble (please go right ahead and correct my spelling.)

It's a funny country, Australia. This book pretty much sums it up.

Bryson's best book is "Notes From a Small Island," about traveling in Great Britain. It's one of the funniest books I've read. The British are funny, and Bryson knows them well after living in Britain for 20+ years.

His book about Australia, "In a Sunburned Country," is also entertaining. He studied Australian history, met many interesting locals, etc. After reading it, I feel like an expert on Australia and its people.

His book about Europe, "Neither Here Nor There," isn't so good. The problem is that he speaks no languages other than English. He didn't talk to anyone on this trip. Wwithout any characters (other than Bryson) the book isn't engaging. The book has only one joke, which he repeats: "The waiter/hotel clerk/taxi driver didn't speak English so I tried to make him understand that I needed..." Some of these moments are quite funny, but they don't constitute a book. Bryson didn't study the places he visits. Unlike the Australian book, you learn almost nothing about the countries he visited.

Bryson's book about America, "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," failed to make me laugh. It reads like a series of Erma Bombeck columns. Bryson comments about various aspects of his life in a small town in New England. Not other people's lives, which might have been interesting, but only about his domestic life.

I got only a few chapters into his book about the Appalachian Trail, "A Walk in the Woods." I wasn't amused that two people with no backpacking experience would attempt a six-month hike. After several chapters of Bryson repeating one joke -- "I know nothing about any of this!" -- I stopped reading.

This suggests that the old advice "write about what you know" is worth following. It also made me realize that traveling is only enjoyable if you do two things: meet interesting people, preferably by speaking their language; and studying the area you're visiting.

Review by Thomas David Kehoe, author of "Hearts and Minds: How Our Brains Are Hardwired for Relationships"