I "met" him through a dear friend of mine, Kristin Folden. She mentioned his US travel book, A Walk in the Woods oh, about a year ago, and it's been on my list of books to read ever since (it's a long list, I tell you). At her and Aric's wedding she presented me with another Bryson book: In a Sunburned Country.
Considering that I'd been to Australia, a whopping year ago - so hard to believe that fact - I felt it appropriate to escalate the priority of reading In A Sunburned Country. So I did. And I was quite impressed. Bryson is one of the most humorous and friendly writers I've had the pleasure of reading. His stories and perspectives are interesting, and he tells stories splendidly.
I was really excited to read the book because I knew it would be like a memory-trip back to the grand world Down Under, and it was quite so. I loved reading every chapter and hearing about the places I'd visited and especially the places I'd been unable to visit. I learned a lot from Bill, too, and enjoyed recollecting my own personal travels in Australia.
I enjoyed reading all of Bryson's statistics. From animals to population to land mass to various comparisons to plants, Bryson put Australia into perspective with numbers. He painted such an accurate picture of the folks in Australia, too: so friendly, willing and kind to even strangers, their attitudes towards different things, even their fellow citizens who lived in different states. I was surprised to learn that Queenslanders were regarded as the quirky ones, haha.
I loved his stories from boogie boarding to being chased by dogs to the different folks he met along his journeys to all the parks and various sights he saw.
It was indeed a fantastic book for me to read, having spent 6 wonderful months in the lovely country. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in Australia, especially interested in visiting Down Under.
Cheers!
Amanda
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