The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America
by Bill Bryson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (12 September, 1990)
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Editorial Review

A travelogue by Bill Bryson is as close to a sure thing as funny books get. The Lost Continent is no exception. Following an urge to rediscover his youth (he should know better), the author leaves his native Des Moines, Iowa, in a journey that takes him across 38 states. Lucky for us, he brought a notebook.

With a razor wit and a kind heart, Bryson serves up a colorful tale of boredom, kitsch, and beauty when you least expect it. Gentler elements aside, The Lost Continent is an amusing book. Here's Bryson on the women of his native state: "I will say this, however--and it's a strange, strange thing--the teenaged daughters of these fat women are always utterly delectable ... I don't know what it is that happens to them, but it must be awful to marry one of those nubile cuties knowing that there is a time bomb ticking away in her that will at some unknown date make her bloat out into something huge and grotesque, presumably all of a sudden and without much notice, like a self-inflating raft from which the pin has been yanked."

Yes, Bill, but be honest: what do you really think? ... Read more

Reviews (222)

Small Town America Like No Other...

It was the coffee stain that first caught my attention. I was walking out of the bookstore and there sat a book with a coffee ring on it. I paused and smiled. The book looked like it came from my desk, coffee stain and all. I smiled at the yellow roadside sign with the red arrow. I had observed many of these as I crisscrossed the United States over the last several years. With all these associations, how could I not pause and begin reading?

A few minutes later I walked out of the bookstore with a smile and the book under my arm. Here was a kindred spirit, a sojourner lost in his own country, navigating his way through all that was familiar and strange.

Mr. Bryson encircles the United States in a large figure eight with Des Moines, Iowa in the center, as it should be. He covers every region of the nation, aghast and agape at what he sees. He describes it in dry prose punctuated by laugh-out-loud comments. Mr. Bryson is pithy and riotously funny.

If you are not planning on traversing the byways of the U.S. soon, by all means read this book now. If you have a trip planned, hold off reading this. Have your own experience, then pick up this book and see how many times your paths crossed. You'll laugh out loud too.

almost good
i think it important to remember that bryson was younger when he wrote this book. parts of it contain his very genuine love of people and places. parts of it, particularly his out-right hatred of the south, are mean spirited, but bryson grows out of this. just read "i'm a stranger here myself" to see this.
not my favorite bryson book, but i read it and i laughed.

love Bill Bryson-- hate this book
Usually, Bryson is down right-laugh out loud funny... This book was a whiney travelogue of uninteresting places.

There are many lovely, interesting small towns throughout the US, Bryson didn't find one of them. And similarly, there are numerous unique characters in the country and Bryson didn't meet any of them.Just traveling around small towns, expecting some sort of revelation about yourself and life growing up in the middle of nowhere... could happen, but didn't.

Not a bright spot among these leaves!
... Read more

Isbn: 0060920084
Subjects:  1. 1971-    2. Cities and towns    3. Description and travel    4. Essays & Travelogues    5. Form - Essays    6. General    7. Humor    8. Social life and customs    9. Travel - United States    10. United States    11. United States - General    12. Travel / Essays & Travelogues   

Notes from a Small Island
by Bill Bryson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 May, 1997)
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Editorial Review

Reacting to an itch common to Midwesterners since there's been a Midwest from which to escape, writer Bill Bryson moved from Iowa to Britain in 1973. Working for such places as Times of London, among others, he has lived quite happily there ever since. Now Bryson has decided his native country needs him--but first, he's going on a roundabout jaunt on the island he loves.

Britain fascinates Americans: it's familiar, yet alien; the same in some ways, yet so different. Bryson does an excellent job of showing his adopted home to a Yank audience, but you never get the feeling that Bryson is too much of an outsider to know the true nature of the country. Notes from a Small Island strikes a nice balance: the writing is American-silly with a British range of vocabulary. Bryson's marvelous ear is also in evidence: "... I noted the names of the little villages we passed through--Pinhead, West Stuttering, Bakelite, Ham Hocks, Sheepshanks ..." If you're an Anglophile, you'll devour Notes from a Small Island. ... Read more

Reviews (232)

For Those With A Sense of Humor
Please, babies, if you are a humorless malcontent do not under any circumstances read this book! It is not for you! In fact, do not read any of Bill's books as they are all written for people who like to laugh and have fun in life.

Have a wonderful day, all...

Wish I could give Bill Bryson more than 5 stars...
...for his writing in all of his books is truly worth it.Of all his books, this is my favorite.His writing is smooth and easy...and just downright hysterical.The only books I've ever read that I actually laugh out loud.While his writing is in the form (mostly) of travel essays, he could easily have been a comedian.

Bryson the Hypocrite
In NOTES FROM A SMALL ISLAND, Bryson would have the reader believe that he can see Britain through an objective, insightful critical eye, albeit leavened with his own brand of humor. The book turns on Bryson's ability to contrast the United States with its - as he characterizes it - more provincial, stuffy and stick in the mud cousin Great Britain.

Well, Great Britain has gotten its own back, and the English everywhere are having the last laugh as Bryson, that archetypal Midwestern American, is now turning his back on his native country to flatter and kiss up to that self-same small island.

In a Sunday Times interview on April 17, 2005 Bryson has the following to say: "The [British] ability to criticise is based on insight; with Americans, there is a total lack of insight." Seems like a harsh thing to say about your own career, Bill, built as it is on criticizing other cultures, but hey, if you think so then who I am to defend to your books?

Bryson then indulges in shameless pandering to his adopted home, claiming that part of the reason why he is seeking UK citizenship is to escape American death duties. Um, Bill? American taxes have loophole and shelters. Any good estate planner can tell you how to plan your will accordingly. British taxes have no escape from Her Majesty's Government taking its enormous cut. (I know, I'm paying them myself right now as a UK-based employee.) Most people with estates to shelter move AWAY from the UK, dear Bill, not to it. If Bryson really thinks that British death duties will be more fair to his wife than the US version, then I pity Mrs. Bryson. Deeply,

Bill's eagerness to kiss British posterior includes slamming US universities: he claims they're more interested in providing country club amenities than education & they cost too much. Bill obviously hasn't a) set foot in a US university classroom or even read the various annual US college rankings or B) heard of public state universities nor financial aid.

He also targets US customer service, claiming that because poor little him can't check into his US hotel room before the stated check-in time, therefore the vaunted American service with a smile is "baloney if you ask for something unexpected." I'm truly sorry, Bill, that your hotel was unable to produce enough cleaning staff to ensure that hundreds of rooms are simultaneously cleaned instantaneously - and I'm sure it had nothing to do with others asking for unexpected late check-outs - and I'm even more sorry that this experience moved you "almost to tears." Poor baby, you have such a hard life as a travel writer! But just imagine how moved I was when it took over a week for power to be restored to a London flat for which we pay above Upper East Side Manhattan prices. Sorry, Bill, but it's Britain where customer service truly is an oxymoron.

Bryson also attacks the US lack of heritage, basing it on his philistine friends who pull down an 1806 house to build a new one. So obviously, all Americans must share the same attitude. For someone who has made his living writing travel books, Bill is very ignorant of the revival movement that's been fashionable for decades in city centers such as San Diego and Baltimore, where heritage buildings are restored and refurbished for modern needs.

Bill also has a problem with the American idea that everyone who wants a college degree should get one, regardless of their ultimate profession. "Everyone in Ameican, even policemen, go to university now." He fears that this egalitarian ideal will sully Britain; that sending everyone to university regardless of need or academic attainment will destroy the great generalist British education. Right, because if you just a civil servant serving the public, what need do you really have to read Chaucer and Shakespeare? No need to waste an education on those inferiors who are just going to go around apprehending criminals and making the streets safe for the intellectuals. Although, really, one could say the same for pontificating travel writers who feel the need to puff up their hosts, as Bill has obviously lost any critical reasoning and logical deduction skills he ever learned.

Bill ends his interview by saying "If you want to get rid of me, you are going to have to kick me out." Please, Britain, keep him. Pretty please? ... Read more

Isbn: 0380727501
Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Bryson, Bill    3. Civilization    4. Description and travel    5. England    6. Essays & Travelogues    7. Europe - Gt. Britain/England    8. Form - Essays    9. Journeys    10. Topic - Political    11. Travel    12. Travel - General    13. Travel / General   

A Walk in the Woods : Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail)
by Bill Bryson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (04 May, 1999)
list price: $14.95 -- our price: $10.47
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Editorial Review

Bill Bryson has made a living out of traveling and then writing about it. In The Lost Continent he re-created the road trips of his childhood; in Neither Here nor There he retraced the route he followed as a young backpacker traversing Europe. When this American transplant to Britain decided to return home, he made a farewell walking tour of the British countryside and produced Notes from a Small Island. Once back on American soil and safely settled in New Hampshire, Bryson once again hears the siren call of the open road--only this time it's a trail. The Appalachian Trail, to be exact. In A Walk in the Woods Bill Bryson tackles what is, for him, an entirely new subject: the American wilderness. Accompanied only by his old college buddy Stephen Katz, Bryson starts out one March morning in north Georgia, intending to walk the entire 2,100 miles to trail's end atop Maine's Mount Katahdin.

If nothing else, A Walk in the Woods is proof positive that the journey is the destination. As Bryson and Katz haul their out-of-shape, middle-aged butts over hill and dale, the reader is treated to both a very funny personal memoir and a delightful chronicle of the trail, the people who created it, and the places it passes through. Whether you plan to make a trip like this one yourself one day or only care to read about it, A Walk in the Woods is a great way to spend an afternoon. --Alix Wilber ... Read more

Reviews (809)

Very uneven and sometimes preachy
This not a bad book. Sections of it are quite enjoyable, in fact, but an uneven writing style and lapses into preachiness (even when appropriate) keep it from being a better book. I don't mind some commentary about the absurdity of things, but it comes a bit too often in a book supposedly about walking the Appalachian Trail.

There is some profanity, more annoying due to its sudden use after some time without it than the fact that it's there at all. It's almost like Bryson thought, "Hey, I haven't been crude in a few pages so let me throw in a couple of pertinent words."

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this as a book to purchase - check your local library for a copy.

Funny and enlightening
My Dad handed me this little book, grinned and said, "Read this." The grin told me that there was no way to refuse his order. I'm an outdoors guy all the way but I've seen a fair share of passing winters and have collected a bunch of pounds that I would love to "walk off along the trail" like Mr. Katz. I also know that it isn't as easy as it sounds. I laughed to the point of tears when Katz explained that nearly the entire contents of his backback had been "flung" during the first day of strenuous hiking. Endeavors that may have once been a light hearted flight of fancy can be pretty rough after 20 or so years of TV and microwave popcorn. I suppose that's when I saw the wonderful introspection of Bryson's writing start to creep in. He doesn't just start pounding you in the head with sweeping pronouncements about what is wrong with things. No, this brilliant fellow makes you laugh your head off at personal ego and withering human fraility and THEN he starts making you think about the bigger picture. By the time these guys were slogging through the Hundred Mile Wilderness in Maine, I wanted to leap off the couch with mosquito netting and huge cans of OFF! to help them. I loved the humor Bryson puffed out of this book and I also got caught up in the future and the bizzare bureacratic politics of maintaining the AT for those who wish to experience it. I hope it manages to survive intact until I can drag my grinning father out to witness at least a portion of it for a little "Walk in the Woods". Thanks Dad, this book meant a lot to me.

Intelligent & Funny
I love Bryson's wry self-depricating humor, his perspecacious wit, and amazing ability to bring me into his experience. This is a great summer read. ... Read more

Isbn: 0767902521
Subjects:  1. Appalachian Trail    2. Description and travel    3. Essays & Travelogues    4. Natural history    5. Travel    6. Travel - United States    7. United States - General    8. United States - Northeast - General    9. United States - South - East South Central (General)    10. Travel / United States / General   

Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe
by Bill Bryson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (06 April, 1999)
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Reviews (117)

Enjoyed It, Till the Last Page...
I love travelogues, but I've never read any of Bryson's books, so I can't say whether it's one of his best or not. But on its own merits, I enjoyed the writing and his views of the different parts of Europe. He comes up with some wonderful metaphors, and the book held my interest throughout. At age 42, I no longer feel I have to read every word of a book--life's too short, so skip the parts you don't care about--but I did read every word of this one.
BUT--on the last page, when he decides to go home, he reveals that his wife is pregnant again and he really thinks maybe he ought to get back. WHAT??!! What kind of lowdown leaves his pregnant wife and kids fending for themselves while he gallivants around Europe for a couple months? What kind of idiot woman stays married to such a schmuck? I lost all respect for Bryson then and there.
But still, you can't deny the writing is good and enjoyable. So read it, just skip the last page. :)

Not Byrson's Best
I've read a number of Bryson's books and this is by far the weakest one in my opinion. It's not terrible, but Bryson seems to be traveling just for the sake of crossing cities off of his to-visit list. He has a great writing style, but he seems to have very few really intriguing experiences and spends so little time interacting with the locals that you wonder why he bothers leaving home. If you want a more entertaining and informative story about traveling in Western Europe, I would recommend "Searching for the Holy Grail: My Travels in Western Europe."

Why Leave Home?
A page and a half from the end of this worthless narrative is the key to Mr. Bryson's travel philosophy: "...what an odd thing tourism is.You fly off to a strange land, eagerly abandoning all the comforts of home, and then expend vast quantities of time and money in a largely futile effort to recapture the comforts that you wouldn't have lost if you hadn't left home in the first place."This is a perfect attitude for the armchair traveler; these are exactly the people that should not travel.Buy Mr. Bryson's books and stay home.I hope no one with this attitude would presume to make themselves an ambassador to any foreign land.The whole point of travel/tourism is to have new experiences and to realize that your miniscule world is not all there is.I unfortunately forced myself to finish Neither Here Nor There at the end of a trip to New Hampshire.Had I realized Mr. Bryson's residence was so close, I would have liked to have coffee, simply to see if such a narrow-minded attitude is more than a writing persona. ... Read more

Isbn: 0380713802
Sales Rank: 3340
Subjects:  1. Essays & Travelogues    2. Europe - General    3. Europe - Western    4. Form - Essays    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. Travel / Essays & Travelogues   

I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After 20 Years Away
by Bill Bryson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (06 June, 2000)
list price: $14.95 -- our price: $10.47
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Editorial Review

In the world of contemporary travel writing, Bill Bryson, the bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods, often emerges as a major contender for King of Crankiness. Granted, he complains well and humorously, but between every line of his travel books you can almost hear the tinny echo: "I wanna go home, I miss my wife."

Happily, I'm a Stranger Here Myself unleashes a new Bryson, more contemplative and less likely to toss daggers. After two decades in England, he's relocated to Hanover, New Hampshire. In this collection (drawn from dispatches for London's Night & Day magazine), he's writing from home, in close proximity to wife and family. We find a happy marriage between humor and reflection as he assesses life both in New England and in the contemporary United States. With the telescopic perspective of one who's stepped out of the American mainstream and come back after 20 years, Bryson aptly holds the mirror up to U.S. culture, capturing its absurdities--such as hotlines for dental floss, the cult of the lawsuit, and strange American injuries such as those sustained from pillows and beds. "In the time it takes you to read this," he writes, "four of my fellow citizens will somehow manage to be wounded by their bedding."

The book also reflects the sweet side of small-town USA, with columns about post-office parties, dining at diners, and Thanksgiving--when the only goal is to "get your stomach into the approximate shape of a beach ball" and be grateful. And grateful we are that the previously peripatetic Bryson has returned to the U.S., turning his eye to this land--while living at home and near his wife. Under her benevolent influence, he entertains through thoughtful insights, not sarcastic stabs. --Melissa Rossi ... Read more

Reviews (170)

hilarious!
I tend to like all of Bryson's books, some better than others.But this one seriously made me laugh out loud.

Yes, Bryson's humor tends to be on the predictable side...but his turn of phrase is amazing.It's not so much the situations, but it's the way he writes about them, and his choice of words, that keep me coming back.

This book is a collection of columns, which makes it easy to read when you anticipate lots of interruptions.I think the longest chunk is four pages.Almost anyone has time for a four page chunk.

I can go back and reread this frequently for a good laugh...if you like sarcastic humor, this is a book for you.

This Book is a Great Comfort to Foreigners
About two years ago when my husband and I made up our minds to study abroad in the U.S., one of my friends, who have lived in Boston for many years recommended Bill Bryson'sI am a Stranger Here Myself to me.She told me this book reflects American life and will help me learn American ways of living.I kept her words in mind, but didn't read this book until it was chosen as our assigned material in a reading class in the U.S.After reading through this book, I realized why my friend suggested me read it.This book is really a great comfort to foreigners, because what Bill Bryson told the readers mostly resonates with what we've encountered in our daily lives in the U.S.

As foreigners, we usually assume that lack of proficiency in the language is the cause of ineffective communication and it puts us in a very awkward situation.However, in the chapter, "What's Cooking," we know that though a native speaker, Bryson is also bewildered by the complicated terminology the server uses to introduce the special dishes in a fancy restaurant.And in "How to Rent a Car," Bryson has a difficult time figuring out the complexly tiered options in the contract just as I did when I rented a car in the U.S. for the first time.Sometime it makes foreigners feel secure and relieved when realizing that a native speaker is in the same boat.

I am so glad that I got the chance to read this book.Not only did I understand more about American customs and culture, but I also benefited greatly from the author's funny expression and vivid description in English.For foreigners, making ourselves acquainted with American ways of thinking and speaking is crucial to dealing with daily events in a foreign country.In my opinion, Bill Bryson plays the role of a spokesperson for Americans as well as foreigners.In his sarcastic but intriguing tone, Bryson candidly points out some ridiculous phenomena in American society.Some may regard him as a grumpy man complaining a lot in his book, but I was fascinated by his unique humor.I sincerely suggest anyone who would like to travel to the U.S. read this book beforehand.This book is of great help to getting a broad outline of the life style in America.

Sarcastic but accurate reflection
Even though selecting and reading this book were part of my class activity, I generally liked and enjoyed getting to know Bill Bryson's perspectives on American culture by reading this book. This book is a collection of his counter cultural experiences when he came back to the United States after living in England for 20 years. It is very fortunate for him that he had lived in a country using his native language. If he hadn't, his cultural shock might have been even more intensified than he described in this book.

As a foreigner living in this country, I agree with him on some parts of his opinions, especially about the complicated tax system, incomprehensible insurance policies, delicate efforts on gardening, boring highway travel, or sophisticated ordering process in restaurants. But I felt the most sympathetic about his concern about his aging and memory loss, and his love for his fully grown son, which are probably beyond a cultural category. However, some chapters of this book contain outdated thoughts and old information, which may be based on the fact that this book is a collection of the newspaper columns and makes me bored and uninterested. Moreover, Bill Bryson sometimes seemed to be hurry to fulfill his assignment of posting his article on the newspaper in time, because some chapters are nothing but redundancies of his confession of inaptitude for technology or mechanics, which are also dreary.

Nevertheless, I am very pleased to find this interesting person with an eccentric sense of humour making me smile, political uprightness insinuated between the lines, and preference of walking on foot instead of using cars. I appreciate his sarcastic but accurate reflection and objective attitude on his own country where he was born, which possibly give the American a chance to think about their own culture in a different way.
... Read more

Isbn: 076790382X
Subjects:  1. 1971-    2. Anecdotes    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Bryson, Bill    7. Description and travel    8. General    9. Literary    10. Social life and customs    11. Travelers    12. United States    13. United States - 20th Century    14. Biography & Autobiography / General   

In a Sunburned Country
by Bill Bryson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (15 May, 2001)
list price: $14.95 -- our price: $10.17
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Editorial 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 ... Read more

Reviews (327)

Paging Dr. Bryson
Oh, hell, don't try to over analyze Bryson's books, just jump in and swim.Every paragraph practically makes me chortle like a stewed hyena, and people in the break room change for more distant tables.If I ever get one of those Norman Cousins diseases you can cure by laughing, I'm laying in a crate of Bryson's books and charging them to Blue Cross.

it's a travel book...and it's funny!
I never thought a travel book could be laugh-out-loud funny, but this one definitely is.Bill Bryson travels to Australia, not only to the cities and tourist areas, but also off the beaten path to more unconventional spots.Packed with informative historical information and tidbits (most of which are likely to shock you) about the oft-misunderstood nation, Bryson mixes in his hysterically funny adventures, told with his unique spin on things.After reading this book, I not only want to visit Australia, but I am also determined to read more books by Bill Bryson.

A Land Of Sweeping Plains
Bill Bryson has done it again! In A Sunburned Country was a delightful travel book that allowed me to picture each step as if I was there myself. I have always loved Australia and everything that comes with it. The comic nature of the book is really light-hearted and keeps the reader's attention. Although, he still does get serious at the appropriate times when talking about serious issues. The beginning was one of the main points that drew me to this particular book. It really made me think of how much people outside of Australia don't know about it. The descriptions of some places such as the train Bryson rode on found the Brightside of places that most would just pass up due to the containment or how undesirable they may seem. The vivid descriptions of places such as the Tree Top Walk really made me want to go and experience it for myself. I hope sometime soon I will see the places I unknowingly would pass up. ... Read more

Isbn: 0767903862
Subjects:  1. Australia    2. Australia & Oceania - Australia    3. Bryson, Bill    4. Description    5. Description and travel    6. Essays & Travelogues    7. Journeys    8. Travel    9. Travel - Foreign    10. United States - General    11. Travel / United States / General   

Bill Bryson's African Diary
by Bill Bryson
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (03 December, 2002)
list price: $12.00 -- our price: $9.60
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Reviews (26)

A Waste of Money
I enjoyed Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" and recently bought a few of his other books, the "African Diary" included.As a Kenyan reading this book, he had nothing but negative things to say.It felt like the only positive experience he had was seeing all the fossils of early man that he was "honoured" to see, since these exhibits are not open to the general public.I found my blood boiling as I kept reading, and to be honest, I had to keep willing myself to finish reading it. I kept looking for hope, but there seemed to be none.This book portrayed Kenya as a bleak place-- like it is a death sentence to be there.Yes, I acknowledge that Kenya has many, many problems, just like every other country does, but there are lots of things that are wonderful about it.Honestly, whoever would like this book can contact me, and I will gladly mail it to you FREE.I really have no use for it, and do not want it sitting on my bookshelf.

hopelessness
Bill Bryson, an Iowan transplant to Britain (who has apparently moved back to the US), presents a brief overview of his extremely brief stay in Kenya. I laugh that this book is called "African Diary", given that Kenya is a small part of Africa in total. This is the way of the western world though... "Africa" is just lumped together as if there is such a thing as "African culture" rather than hundreds of different cultures on this misunderstood continent.

I happened to read this small tome at the same time as I was reading Michael Moore's rather inflammatory prose, and I found that the books went well together. In one book Moore points out the basic human right of clean water and sanitary living conditions, while Bryson travels through Kenya astounded by the sheer lack or at least rarity of these things. Both Bryson and Moore discuss how America consumes so many of the world's resources and wonders why the world hates the US. Bryson provides vivid detail, "Every time you flush a toilet (in the West) you use more water than the average person in the developing world has for all purposes in a day-cooking, cleaning, drinking, everything." Bryson learns this startling fact as he wanders through one of Nairobi's slums, having traveled to Kenya on behalf of the charity, CARE.

A theme of hopelessness pervades-parents in Kenya will do anything-any kind of suffering-in order for their children to get an education but then the children, having reached a certain level of education, cannot afford higher education anyway.

I was thankful here for Bryson's brevity, his "sense of humor" in previous/other books is not necessarily for everyone (I recognize that I am in the minority in not much enjoying his humor), and he kept his observations more anthropological than comedic here, and that lent a greater sense of urgency and validity to the subject matter at hand.

Entertaining and Recommended
I'm a big fan of Bill Bryson and have read most of his works. This book mirrors his other travel books and keen insight into the people and places he visits. There's a little more discussion of local people and their circumstances than some of his other works. Bryson's account is truly moving despite being quite short. The book is only about 50 pages. The book's cover states that royalties and profits from the book will be donated to CARE International. Highly Recommended. ... Read more

Isbn: 0767915062
Sales Rank: 19445
Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Bryson, Bill    4. Description    5. Description and travel    6. Kenya    7. Personal Memoirs    8. Travel    9. Travelers    10. History / Africa