In a Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson
In a Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson
142 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

In a Sunburned Country

Author: Bill Bryson

Narrator: Bill Bryson

Unabridged: 11 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/05/2000


Synopsis

Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out. This time in Australia.

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.

About The Author

Bill Bryson's bestselling books include A Walk in the WoodsThe Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and A Short History of Nearly Everything (which won the Aventis Prize in Britain and the Descartes Prize, the European Union's highest literary award). He was chancellor of Durham University, England's third oldest university, from 2005 to 2011, and is an honorary fellow of Britain's Royal Society.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Miranda on December 10, 2020

Lovely little adventure a la Bill BrysonNo one knows, incidentally, why Australia's spiders are so extravagantly toxic; capturing small insects and injecting them with enough poison to drop a horse would appear to be the most literal case of overkill. Still, it does mean that everyone gives them......more

Goodreads review by Nina (ninjasbooks) on February 04, 2023

What an absolute delight this was! After reading two really dark novels, down under lifted my spirts immensely. In addition I learnt so much about a country I now have to visit. Like all of Bryson’s travel books, I was mesmerized by the fascination people he met. Adding small outbursts of laughter t......more

Goodreads review by Martine on May 26, 2008

I developed a taste for Bill Bryson last year when I read his Short History of Nearly Everything, an ambitious attempt to trace the history of life, the universe and everything in just 574 pages. While many of the scientific discoveries outlined in the book were a little beyond me, I thoroughly enjo......more

Goodreads review by Vanessa on March 11, 2019

As expected this was a mix of fun facts and a companion travel piece. Being Australian I’m sure I enjoyed this more than the average non Australian reader but I could see that some parts especially the parts apart about politics and cricket could bore a few readers who aren’t already familiar with o......more


Quotes

"In the late afternoon, I stopped at a roadhouse for gas and coffee. I studied my book of maps . . . Then, having nothing better to do, I leafed through the index and amused myself, in a very low-key way, by looking for ridiculous names, of which Australia has a respectable plenitude. I am thus able to report that the following are all real places: Wee Waa, Poowons, Borrumbuttock, Suggan Buggan, Boomahnoomoonah, Waaia, Mullumbimby Ewylamartup, Jiggalong, and the supremely satisfying Tittybong."