This is Bryson's report on what he found in 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 funny, fact-filled,
and adventurous performance by a writer who combines
humor, wonder, and unflagging curiousity.
Australia exists on a vast scale. It is the only island
that is also a continent and the only continent that
is also a country. Despite being the most desiccated,
infertile, and climatically aggressive of all inhabited
continents, it teems with life. In fact, Australia has
more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways
than anywhere else: sharks, crocodiles, the ten most
deadly poisonous snakes on the planet, fluffy yet toxic
caterpillars, seashells that actually attack you, and
the unbelievable box jellyfish (don't ask). The dangerous
riptides of the sea and the sun-baked wastes of the
outback both lie in wait for the unwary. It's one tough
country.
Bryson
adores it and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride
far beyond the beaten tourist path. Here is a place
where interesting things happen all the time, from a
Prime Minister lost--yes, lost--while swimming at sea
to Japanese cult members who may have set off an atomic
bomb (sic) entirely unnoticed on their 500,000-acre
property in the great western desert.
Wherever he goes (and Bryson goes just about everywhere)
he finds Australians who are cheerful, extroverted,
and unfailingly obliging--the beaming products of a
land with clean, safe cities, cold beer, and constant
sunshine. On occasion the Aborigines, a remote and mysterious
race with a tragic history, make a haunting appearance
in this book. But by and large Australia is an immense
and fortunate land, and it has found in Bill Bryson
its perfect guide.
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