In a Sunburned Country

not as funny as A Walk in the Woods...but fun.

If only school could be as entertaining as Bill Bryson. He packs an enormous amount of information into a book, but he tells it so humorously, that you don't realize that you are learning. This book just reinforced my desire to go to Australia.

I read this back before I took a trip to Australia. It's basically a travel journal about Bryson's travel to remote destinations in Australia. Many of the things he writes were exactly as I experienced them in Australia. Bryson is comedic in his own ways and I love his observations of the world around him. A must read for anyone who enjoys learning about that distant island on the other side of the world.

After a while Bryson's storytelling becomes predictable and boring. Like other travel books this could be anywhere in the world. Non 'pulp' fiction.

I love Bill Bryson's writing and travel adventures and it is a while since I last read one of his books. I am behind the pace in terms of reading his work so I decided to make an effort to catch up on some of those I have missed, starting here. Having been to Oz many years ago I was interested in Bryson's take on the country and his love for it is clear and his thoughts certainly match mine on many levels. As usual with his writing it is perceptive and witty the prose is elegant and amusing in its own right. I thought the overall take on the country was incisive and certainly asked questions I hadn't thought much about, such as Australia's overall place in, its perception by, the wider world. His thoughts on Aussie politics being particularly relevant in this context. I thought there was some pandering to stereotypes though, in particular the often accessed fertile ground that is: "all the things that can kill you in Australia". Whilst amusing and certainly true, this is something about which we do indeed here a lot about the Lucky Country and it becomes repetitive just a hair. However this is a minor quibble about an interesting account of several journeys around Australia and it makes me want to return!

Bill Bryson has a very dynamic and engaging writing style that draws you in from the start on top of the already interesting topic of Australia. The narrative is full of fascinating and little-known tidbits of history, science, and minutia that Bryson slips seamlessly into the narrative throughout his journey across the continent, from city to city and sight to sight.

Read this book while spending hours waiting in a spartan cafeteria while my kids skied one blustery afternoon. I laughed so hard points I couldn't catch my breath. This book is a vacation, a treat, sunshine on a dismal day.

Hilarious. You can't go wrong with Bryson reading Bryson. Too bad so many are 'abridged'. My 'no abridged audiobooks ever'-rule limits me considerably when it come to Mr. Bryson's work...

I really enjoyed reading this book while travelling throug Australia on my honeymoon. Bill Bryson's writing is witty and very informative. This book doesn't merely tell his travels in Australia, but gives you precious information about its history, way of living, culture, nature. I'm curious about his other books now. I'm certainly going to read more from this author.

Entertaining, if slightly uneven. Some passages had me laughing so hard I was drooling, but there were longer sections that were sort of flat descriptions of someone's vacation gone not horribly wrong, but not horribly right either. They had little gems of humour or interest, but were kind of like a chocolate chip cookie with almost enough chips. Still, Bryson paints an interesting picture of Australia, demonstrating his love and respect for the country. This book has increased my desire to visit the place, especially some of the smaller hard-to-reach locales that I know I'll never get to.