- Hardcover: 64 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday Canada (Nov 26 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 038565989X
- ISBN-13: 978-0385659895
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 626 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #482,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
In this slim, invigorating volume, the author of Notes from a Small Island and A Walk in the Woods sets his dry, Midwestern fish-out-of-water wit on Kenya. For eight days in the fall of 2002, Bill Bryson, accompanied by workers from the international poverty-fighting organization CARE, toured the East African country, visiting various CARE-sponsored projects and meeting the locals. One of these is Dr. Mbua. Among Bryson's interests is the human fossil record, and so an appointment at the National Museum--which "has the finest collection of early human remains in existence"--is arranged. Among its treasures is a 19-million-year-old ape skull returned to its rightful country after 40 years of bargaining with the British Museum, where it was sent for cleaning in the 1940s. Bryson asks Dr. Mbua, a paleontologist, why the museum kept it for so long. "'They coveted it,' she said, smiling serenely, but hinting at levels of darkness in the world of paleontology that I hadn't known existed." In describing why a highway isn't in the shape it's supposed to be in, Bryson drolly notes, "some government official or group of government officials decided to spare Kenyan workers the wearying toil of laying tarmac under a hot sun, and pocketed the money instead."
For all his humour, Bryson never takes his eyes off the main point of his journey--that CARE has been a force for good, bringing improvements in the quality of life of poverty-stricken Kenyans, but that much more work is needed. Proceeds from the sales of this worthwhile little book (illustrated with photographs by Jenny Matthews) go to the organization, and hence to aiding fellow humans. As Bryson writes of a farmer he meets, "William Gumbo ... is a happy man and he has a future. Surely every human being is entitled to at least that much." --Shawn Conner
Review
“Bryson is one of the funniest travel writers in the business.” -- The Globe and Mail
“Bryson has become an enormously popular travel writer by coming off as the most literate tour guide you’ve ever had.” -- The New York Times
“Bryson is a terrific stylist. You can’t help but enjoy his writing, for its cheer and buoyancy, and for the frequent demonstration of his peculiar, engaging turn of mind.” -- Ottawa Citizen
“Bryson is first and foremost a storyteller -- and a supremely comic and original one at that.” -- Winnipeg Free Press
“Bryson has become an enormously popular travel writer by coming off as the most literate tour guide you’ve ever had.” -- The New York Times
“Bryson is a terrific stylist. You can’t help but enjoy his writing, for its cheer and buoyancy, and for the frequent demonstration of his peculiar, engaging turn of mind.” -- Ottawa Citizen
“Bryson is first and foremost a storyteller -- and a supremely comic and original one at that.” -- Winnipeg Free Press
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
In the late 1940s and early 1950s after he became a little too saggy to fit into a Tarzan loincloth without depressing popcorn sales among cinema audiences, the great Johnny Weissmuller filled the twilight years of his acting career with a series of low-budget adventure movies with titles like Devil Goddess and Jungle Moon Men, all built around a character called Jungle Jim. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
In the late 1940s and early 1950s after he became a little too saggy to fit into a Tarzan loincloth without depressing popcorn sales among cinema audiences, the great Johnny Weissmuller filled the twilight years of his acting career with a series of low-budget adventure movies with titles like Devil Goddess and Jungle Moon Men, all built around a character called Jungle Jim. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Short and sweet,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Bill Bryson African Diary (Hardcover)
Like Oliver, please s'uh, can I have more? I wonder if Mr. Bryson is considering doing more African countries because African Diary leaves you wanting more, much more; it was a teaser.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and Recommended,
By
This review is from: Bill Bryson's African Diary (Hardcover)
I'm a big fan of Bill Bryson and have read most of his works. This book mirrors his other travel books and keen insight into the people and places he visits. There's a little more discussion of local people and their circumstances than some of his other works. Bryson's account is truly moving despite being quite short. The book is only about 50 pages. The book's cover states that royalties and profits from the book will be donated to CARE International. Highly Recommended.
1.0 out of 5 stars
is this a joke?,
By
This review is from: Bill Bryson African Diary (Hardcover)
I like Bill Bryson but passing off a 49-page (no, it's not 69 pages in the version I got) diary as a book is a crime. Charging C$19 for that, too, is a ripoff (that's the price I saw it at a bookstore in town).I don't really care that the proceeds are going to CARE. If you want to support CARE just give them the $19. To pay for this atrocity which is basically an account of a week Bryson spent in Kenya. Yes, folks, it's actually a "Kenyan" diary as that's all of the entire continent of Africa he sees. There are also 19 color pics in the "book." Of which Bryson's beard appears in six. Writing this as the "Man With Cigar" at the 2010 Ryder Cup get photoshopped into various pics and is an Internet sensation for this nanosecond, I got the feeling, "Do they really think putting Bryson's beard in a bunch of pics = more sales?" Anyway, very very disappointing and it's written as if Bryson mailed it in. You or I could have easily done a far better job with this diary format than Bryson.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
