In a Sunburned CountryEvery 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. |
From inside the book
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... stories that did make it into the Times in 1997, though buried away in the odd-sock drawer of Section C. In January of that year, according to a report written in America by a Times reporter, scientists were seriously investigating the ...
... stories that did make it into the Times in 1997, though buried away in the odd-sock drawer of Section C. In January of that year, according to a report written in America by a Times reporter, scientists were seriously investigating the ...
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... story begins. The world those first Englishmen found was famously inverted—its seasons back to front, its constellations upside down—and unlike anything any of them had seen before even in the near latitudes of the Pacific. Its ...
... story begins. The world those first Englishmen found was famously inverted—its seasons back to front, its constellations upside down—and unlike anything any of them had seen before even in the near latitudes of the Pacific. Its ...
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... story about a little bug called Nothomyrmecia macrops that I think illustrates perfectly, if a bit obliquely, what an exceptional country this is. It's a slightly involved tale but a good one, so bear with me, please. In 1931 on the ...
... story about a little bug called Nothomyrmecia macrops that I think illustrates perfectly, if a bit obliquely, what an exceptional country this is. It's a slightly involved tale but a good one, so bear with me, please. In 1931 on the ...
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... stories. In 1935, not far from where we stood now, some fishermen captured a fourteen-foot beige shark and took it to ... story. Three years later, on a clear, bright, calm Sunday afternoon at Bondi Beach, also not far from where we now ...
... stories. In 1935, not far from where we stood now, some fishermen captured a fourteen-foot beige shark and took it to ... story. Three years later, on a clear, bright, calm Sunday afternoon at Bondi Beach, also not far from where we now ...
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... stories. Believe me, you don't want to get lost in the outback. I began to feel a tremor of foreboding—a feeling not lightened when Sonja gave a cry of delight at the sight of a spider by our feet and said, “Hey, look, a redback!” A ...
... stories. Believe me, you don't want to get lost in the outback. I began to feel a tremor of foreboding—a feeling not lightened when Sonja gave a cry of delight at the sight of a spider by our feet and said, “Hey, look, a redback!” A ...
Contents
Part Two Civilized Australia the Boomerang | |
Chapter 10 | |
Chapter 11 | |
Chapter 12 | |
Chapter 13 | |
Chapter 15 | |
Chapter 16 | |
Chapter 17 | |
Chapter 18 | |
Chapter 19 | |
Dedication | |
Bibliography | |
Part Three Around the Edges | |
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Common terms and phrases
Aborigines actually Adelaide Alice Springs Allan American asked aviation beach beer Bill Bryson box jellyfish Broken Hill Bryson building Canberra Carmel coast couldn’t couple course crocodile Daly Waters Darwin desert didn’t distance driving earth empty feet flight Games half highway hills hundred miles Indian Pacific kangaroos kilometers Kingsford Smith land landscape living look Melbourne million minutes morning museum named nation nearly never nodded Nungesser Olympics once outback Park passed Perth place called plane Queensland realized reef road rock seemed seen smile South Wales sport stand stood story street stroll stromatolites Sturt Highway Surfers Paradise swimming Sydney television tell There’s things thought thousand took town trees turned Uluru Victoria visitors walked watched Western Australia What’s wonder young