In a Sunburned Country |  | Author: Bill Bryson
Publisher: Broadway
List Price: $14.95
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Seller: river-city-books
Rating:  431 reviews
Sales Rank: 2803
Media: Paperback
Edition: Water Damage
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 1
ISBN: 0767903862
Dewey Decimal Number: 919.40465
EAN: 9780767903868
ASIN: 0767903862
Publication Date: May 15, 2001
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Amazon.com Review
Bill Bryson follows his Appalachian amble, A Walk in the Woods, with the story of his exploits in Australia, where A-bombs go off unnoticed, prime ministers disappear into the surf, and cheery citizens coexist with the world's deadliest creatures: toxic caterpillars, aggressive seashells, crocodiles, sharks, snakes, and the deadliest of them all, the dreaded box jellyfish. And that's just the beginning, as Bryson treks through sunbaked deserts and up endless coastlines, crisscrossing the "under-discovered" Down Under in search of all things interesting. Bryson, who could make a pile of dirt compelling--and yes, Australia is mostly dirt--finds no shortage of curiosities. When he isn't dodging Portuguese man-of-wars or considering the virtues of the remarkable platypus, he visits southwest Gippsland, home of the world's largest earthworms (up to 12 feet in length). He discovers that Australia, which began nationhood as a prison, contains the longest straight stretch of railroad track in the world (297 miles), as well as the world's largest monolith (the majestic Uluru) and largest living thing (the Great Barrier Reef). He finds ridiculous place names: "Mullumbimby Ewylamartup, Jiggalong, and the supremely satisfying Tittybong," and manages to catch a cricket game on the radio, which is like listening to two men sitting in a rowboat on a large, placid lake on a day when the fish aren't biting; it's like having a nap without losing consciousness. It actually helps not to know quite what's going on. In such a rarefied world of contentment and inactivity, comprehension would become a distraction. "You see," Bryson observes, "Australia is an interesting place. It truly is. And that really is all I'm saying." Of course, Bryson--who is as much a travel writer here as a humorist, naturalist, and historian--says much more, and does so with generous amounts of wit and hilarity. Australia may be "mostly empty and a long way away," but it's a little closer now. --Rob McDonald
Product Description
Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. In A Sunburned Country is his report on what he found in an entirely different place: Australia, the country that doubles as a continent, and a place with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be found on the planet. The result is a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiousity.
Despite the fact that Australia harbors more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else, including sharks, crocodiles, snakes, even riptides and deserts, Bill Bryson adores the place, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond that beaten tourist path. Wherever he goes he finds Australians who are cheerful, extroverted, and unfailingly obliging, and these beaming products of land with clean, safe cities, cold beer, and constant sunshine fill the pages of this wonderful book. Australia is an immense and fortunate land, and it has found in Bill Bryson its perfect guide.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 431
 A fun book to read, especially if you are a Bill Bryson fan! November 4, 2009
Robert Schmidt (Honolulu, HI & Logan, UT USA)
Here's what I know about this book:
1. If you are a Bill Bryson fan (A Short History of Nearly Everything, A Walk in the Woods, Shakespeare), then you will not be disappointed with In A Sunburned Country. His perspectives and witticisms are still there.
2. If you have been to, or plan to travel to Australia, then this volume will provide you with unique insights: the culture, the landscape, and the history.
3. If you consider yourself a people-watcher, you should find Bryson's observations of interest.
Here are a few tidbits:
"I bought a morning newspaper and found my way into a cafe. It always amazes me how seldom visitors bother with local papers. Personally I can think of nothing more exciting - certainly nothing you could do in a public place with a cup of coffee - than to read newspapers from a part of the world you know almost nothing about" (p. 71).
"The friendliness of Australians - all of it quite sincere and spontaneous, as far as I could ever tell - never ceases to amaze or gratify" (p. 77).
"...[Y]ou will never understand Australian politics. Part of the problem, of course, is that it is nearly impossible to track Australian politics from abroad because so little news of the country's affairs leak out into the wider world. But even when you are there and dutifully trying to follow it, you find yourself mired in a density of argument, a complexity if fine points, a skein of tangled relationships and enmities, that thwarts understanding. Give Australians an issue and they will argue it so passionately and in such detail, from so many angles, with the introduction of so many loosely connected side issues, that it soon becomes impenetrable to the outsider" (p. 99-100).
My three visits to Australia gave me the opportunity to "fact-check" Bryson. From discussing the impacts of the rabbits that ravaged the land, to the general friendliness of the people, to the invisible native people, his observations fit my own. I haven't been to Darwin, but based on the similarity of Bryson's reactions to parts of Australia that both of us visited, it doesn't sound like a particularly tourist-friendly location.
My foray into the "sunburned" portion of the country (north of Adelaide to Woomera) gave me a very small taste of the outback. I think Bryson did a good job at sensing its vastness and inhospitableness. In the urban zones, there is a coffee house or pub on every corner, it seems.
If you are planning a trip, real or imaginary, to Australia, I recommend this book.
 Typically good Bryson book October 18, 2009
H. Jin (Melbourne, Australia)
'In A Sunburnt Country'/'Down Under' is another entertaining Bryson travelogue, as he grapples with the Australian language, environment, wildlife, and vast distances. Australia is enourmous and incredibly diverse, but Bryson is able to provide a fairly comprehensive view of the country as a whole. He actually made a number of independent trips Down Under, all to different parts of the country, for this book.
As always, Bryson has done his homework, reciting an impressive series of historical and geographical facts of which even Australians may not be fully aware. However, it is important to emphasise that Bryson's main objective is to tell an entertaining story, so not every word needs to be taken literally. He will often exaggerate and stereotype for humour, he makes a few minor geographic errors here and there, and he seems to have let one bad incident in Darwin tar his view of the whole town. Nevertheless, most of the personal anecdotes and observations are so funny, you won't care if there's a little embellishment here and there.
It is clear Bryson loves Australia and its people, and as someone from Midwestern USA, he seems to feel an strong affinity with the Australian culture and lifestyle. Apart from a couple of individuals, Bryson in general has great respect for ordinary Australian people. There is little of the snarky cynicism and borderline-elitist sentiment which plagued 'The Lost Continent' on display here.
In all, this is a typically interesting (if not 100% accurate) Bryson book, which provides a reasonably informative and highly entertaining introduction to Australia.
Entertaining, fun, but ultimately shallow October 5, 2009
Jennifer M. Macleod (Canada)
Unlike in his notes on England, written after years in the country, Bryson here only spends a matter of weeks and barely scratches the surface of what Australia has to offer.
That said, I do believe there's no-one else who could possibly scratch the surface so skilfully. His writing is fun and engaging as always. Self-deprecation and humility throughout are nice things to see from a travel writer, and he does manage to meet some fascinating characters along the way.
He drives home most skilfully his relatively simpleminded thesis that Australia is a fascinating place that we in the outside world don't pay enough attention to. In fact, he says it over and over. In fact, it's the final line of the book.
At some point, I began to tire of his repeated pleasant surprises throughout the country. I lost count of the number of museums he was dreading and then found to be unexpectedly wonderful. I'm just not sure that every dusty obscure museum or landmark in Australia is as fascinating as every other one.
Despite that, he does throw in enough anecdotes and humour to keep the reader entertained, if not educated on a very deep level beyond the simple fact that Australia is too vast to encapsulate in a single book, including this one.
My biggest, in fact, perhaps only, disappointment (other than the fact that he never found a museum or attraction he didn't rave about!) is that he frequently mentions the Aboriginal history of Australia, and the modern-day state of the Aborigines, yet never went out of his way to actually find, meet, or speak with an Aborigine.
It's as if he looked at them, considered their noble history, considered their modern plight, shrugged his shoulders, and walked away.
I really wanted to know more. I guess I needed Bryson to meet at least one person from this ancient and fascinating culture and see Australia through more than just European or North American eyes, just for a second. I just don't believe the wall between the worlds is that insurmountable that a persistent travel writer couldn't have made contact.
Nevertheless, and call me shallow if you like, I found this somewhat shallow book deeply enjoyable. It certainly isn't the end-all of Australiana... it doesn't claim to be, but rather claims to offer a glimpse of a fascinating world few of us know. And glimpses, indeed, it provides in spades.
 Absorbingly informative, but self-absorbed September 29, 2009
Christo Fo (Philadelphia)
I just returned from a three-week jaunt through Australia and this book makes a very nice companion for the journey. It is layered with facts, anecdotes, and historical tidbits about the country and its teeming flora and fauna. I love the way Bryson presents it all ....his style is so effortless and casual that it reads like a conversation instead of a lecture. For this element of the book, I give 5 stars. Contained within are some fascinating and amusing stories about Australia's intriguing and unlikely history, its natural beauty, contrasting landscape and ecology. I tore through these paragraphs and pages with gusto....
....but filling the gap between these colorful anecdotes and tidbits are the stories of Bill's "adventure" in exploring, experiencing, and writing. These areas of the book are much less compelling. While some of the stories are particularly poignant and others are quite often amusing, they can be boring, seem like filler, and on one or two occasions (especially around Darwin), downright condescending and mean-spirited. While sarcasm and snark have become pervasive throughout popular media, they seem out of place here, and one gets the impression that Bryson can be, on occasion--how do I say this kindly--a bit of a jerk. Even when the locals seem to deserve it, I feel he goes too far in chastising them simply to show that he can write a witty and delicious put-down.
Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone travelling to Australia or simply interested in reading an interesting account of its history....the balance of narrative vs. content is a bit off as I mentioned, just breeze through the superfluous parts and concentrate on the superbly satisfying quick history lessons.
In a Sunburned Country August 31, 2009
Alan Hurst (Connecticut)
I have never read anything by Bill Bryson that I didn't thoroughly enjoy. His prose is readable, very humorous and if you're not careful you will learn a lot about Australia.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 431
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