Reviews

Bryson's latest travelog takes him to Australia, which, he blithely points out, has "more things that will kill you than anywhere else." Such lethal "attractions" include ten snakes with the deadliest venom in the world, poisonous spiders, lethal seashells, toxic plants, hazardous ocean riptides, sharks, and box jellyfish that can effectively end the beach season. What makes Bryson the most entertaining and interesting travel writer around is his singular facility to fashion a unique whole from historical facts, topographical observations, and geographical ramblings. He travels by train, car, plane, and on foot, and any place is fair game for his attention. He marvels at the uniqueness of place names such as Mullumbimby Ewylamartup, Jiggalong, and Tittybong. He freely comments on whether or not meals or lodgings are satisfactory and the quality of services rendered. Bryson visits Gippsland, where the world's largest earthworms (up to 12 feet in length) live. He travels to Uluru, home to the world's largest monolith. And he marvels at the truly wondrous beauty of the Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest living thing. Along the way, he discourses on Australia's history, including her unique start as a prison colony and the existence of the Aborigines, which is both mysterious and ancient. The author conveys the friendliness of the Australian people, their unstinting hospitality, and the wondrous nature of this fascinating country. Listeners will frequently laugh out loud and may even want to read the book as well. Essential for nearly everyoneÄespecially anyone contemplating a trip Down Under. Highly and enthusiastically recommended for all libraries.ÄGloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll., Kansas City, MO Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

With the Olympics approaching, books on Australia abound. Still, Bryson's lively take is a welcome recess from packaged, staid guides. The author of A Walk in the Woods draws readers in campfire-style, relating wacky anecdotes and random facts gathered on multiple trips down under, all the while lightening the statistics with infusions of whimsical humor. Arranged loosely by region, the book bounces between Canberra and Melbourne, the Outback and the Gold Coast, showing Bryson alone and with partners in tow. His unrelenting insistence that Australia is the most dangerous place on earth ("If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback") spins off dozens of tales involving jellyfish, spiders and the world's 10 most poisonous snakes. Pitfalls aside, Bryson revels in the beauty of this country, home to ravishing beaches and countless unique species ("80% of all that lives in Australia, plant and animal, lives nowhere else"). He glorifies the country, alternating between awe, reverence and fear, and he expresses these sentiments with frankness and candor, via truly funny prose and a conversational pace that is at once unhurried and captivating. Peppered with seemingly irrelevant (albeit amusing) yarns, this work is a delight to read, whether or not a trip to the continent is planned. First serial to Outside magazine; BOMC selection. (June) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

"What the indefatigable, keenly observant Bryson did a few years back for the Applachian Trail with A Walk in the Woods... he does now for the generally undiscovered land Down Under."
--" Chicago Tribune"

"Vastly entertaining... If there is one book with which to get oriented before departure or en route to Australia, this is it."
-- "New York Times"