Its sports are of little interest to us and the last television series it made that we watched with avidity was Skippy. Its population, just over 18 million, is small by world standards-China grows by a larger amount each year-and its place in the world economy is consequently peripheral as an economic entity, it ranks about level with Illinois. Australia is after all mostly empty and a long way away. The fact is, of course, we pay shamefully scant attention to our dear cousins Down Under-not entirely without reason, of course. This seemed doubly astounding to me-first that Australia could just lose a prime minister (I mean, come on) and second that news of this had never reached me. No trace of the poor man was ever seen again. On my first visit, some years ago, I passed the time on the long flight reading a history of Australian politics in the twentieth century, wherein I encountered the startling fact that in 1967 the prime minister, Harold Holt, was strolling along a beach in Victoria when he plunged into the surf and vanished. My thinking is that there ought to be one person outside Australia who knows.īut then Australia is such a difficult country to keep track of. I am forever doing this with the Australian prime minister-committing the name to memory, forgetting it (generally more or less instantly), then feeling terribly guilty. 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.Īustralia is an immense and fortunate land, and it has found in Bill Bryson its perfect guide.Flying into Australia, I realized with a sigh that I had forgotten again who their prime minister is. The result is a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiousity.ĭespite 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. 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. His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out.
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