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Bill Bryson's African Diary
 
 
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Bill Bryson's African Diary [Hardcover]

Bill Bryson (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

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

Product Description

Bill Bryson travels to Kenya in support of CARE International. All royalties and profits go to CARE International.

Bryson visits Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, the charity dedicated to eradicating poverty. Kenya is a land of contrasts, with famous game reserves and a vibrant culture. It also provides plenty to worry a traveller like Bill Bryson, fixated as he is on the dangers posed by snakes, insects and large predators. It is also a country with many serious problems: refugees, AIDS, drought, and grinding poverty. The resultant diary, though short in length, contains the trademark Bryson stamp of wry observation and curious insight.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 49 pages
  • Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (December 3, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0767915062
  • ISBN-13: 978-0767915069
  • Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #17,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
    #17 in  Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Travel
    #5 in  Books > History > Africa > Kenya
    #9 in  Books > Travel > Africa

More About the Author

Bill Bryson
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Inside This Book (learn more)
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
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Rift Valley, William Gumbo, Ogongo Tir, David Sanderson, Nick Southern
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Customer Reviews

67 Reviews
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 (21)
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 (25)
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 (11)
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (67 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars too short but fun bit of travel writing for a good cause, May 28, 2003
By Tim F. Martin (Madison, AL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Bill Bryson's African Diary (Hardcover)
Bill Bryson is a fantastic travel writer, and made this very very short book (only 49 pages!) still fun to read. I definitely wish it had been longer, but as all of the book's proceeds go to charity (specifically CARE, a wonderful organization that spends its money wisely and helps those in impoverished countries help themselves), I don't really mind.

The book recounts his all too brief time in Africa (eight days), where he tours the east African nation of Kenya. He visits some of the areas in Kenya in the most need of CARE's help, such as the Nairobi slum of Kibera and the eastern refugee camp of Dadaab, filled with Somali exiles. It is quite sad to read about the horrible conditions many of these people face (wait till you read about what a flying toilet is), but heart warming to see that many are still hopeful and that all is not lost. It would seem that many of these people are good people; all they need is a chance.

...it was still fun to read and parts were hilarious. I enjoyed his early thoughts on Africa, such as the initial conversations with those who convinced him to go to Africa that except for the "diseases and the bandits and the railway from Nairobi to Mombasa, there's absolutely nothing to worry about"! I enjoyed reading about that railroad, which Bryson writes has a tradition of killing passengers and has even been named the Lunatic Express, though Bryson rode it without any serious mishap. Also lots of fun to read was his arrival in Nairobi; expecting the sunny little country town in "Out of Africa," Bryson was amazed to instead find traffic, high rise buildings, bill boards - as he puts it, Omaha! His description of a harrowing single-engine plane ride was very funny as well.

A fun little book, one in you can read in an hour or two.

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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Lacks the Usual "Bill-iance", June 9, 2003
By Eric Wilson "novelist" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Bill Bryson's African Diary (Hardcover)
Despite the book's trim offerings, I sat in a lawn chair and decided to give Bill Bryson and CARE (a humanitarian organization) the benefit of the doubt. How can you fault a writer or publisher who decides to give up time, comfort, and potentional profit for the sake of a charitable organization?

In his vintage manner, Bryson had me laughing in the opening chapter. He pulled me into his excursion to the Dark Continent with promises of adventure. This, I thought, is pure Bill-iance--using warmth and disarming revelation to ambush me with cold, hard facts.

Quickly, the thought faded. This African diary is mild on adventure, lightly flavored with humor, and boasts only a few chunks of worthy information. It's truly the sparsest of diaries.

I applaud this book and its goals. If, however, you are looking for thirty minutes of Brysonian entertainment, this hardcover carries a hefty price for its content. Buy it, instead, as a relatively small donation to good work being done halfway around the globe.

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars 3 stars for the writing, 5 for the cause., December 7, 2002
By "mattythecobra" (Pembroke, NH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Bill Bryson's African Diary (Hardcover)
Bryson answered the call to help out the international relief organization CARE by accompanying them to Kenya and writing this brief diary. The heart he showed by volunteering (along with the publisher Broadway Books) to donate 100% of the proceeds is impressive, however, the heart he put into the writing is not so much. As always he shares his fears and shortcomings in a humorous way, but the gravity of his surroundings seemed to have moistened his wit more so than usual. He too briefly writes about a number of potentially interesting characters who would have been better served with a more thorough (and undoubtedly Bryson-esquely funny) description. This brevity neglects the human face of the very people CARE is trying to help. Nonetheless, Bryson still captivates, and though not up to par for him, this book would make a great stocking-stuffer for your favorite do-gooder and at the same time help those who need it most.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the usual Bill Bryson travel diary
It is a very short book, I've probably read longer magazine articles, and I wish it had been longer. Read more
Published 14 days ago by Candid Reader

5.0 out of 5 stars A short Bryson treat
A lovely short read by Bryson, filled with his trademark wry humor (or is he back in England such that it should be humour? Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mindy Mo

4.0 out of 5 stars Too short
Very short book but great insight into Bryson's trip around Kenya at the behest of CARE International, to which he donated all the proceeds. Read more
Published 2 months ago by BeachReader

4.0 out of 5 stars Shortest Bill Bryson book
This is a good book for a good cause, but definitely the shortest of all of Bill Bryson's books
Published 3 months ago by Richard S. Meyer

5.0 out of 5 stars Contains wonderful pictures and explanations of Africa
A small book to get a quick insight into Africa. Bryson writes with his usual humor about traveling through Africa and what his preconception of Africa was before his trip... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Indian Prairie Public Library

4.0 out of 5 stars Not your father's Bill Bryson
Imagine summarizing the most emotional trip of you life in a few pages and you have what Bill Bryson did in this book. Read more
Published 5 months ago by W. Stevenson

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent product
You cannot go wrong with Bill Bryson, never. He is a great and funny author.
Published 7 months ago by Nitram

3.0 out of 5 stars Very thin re-telling of Un-Bryson-like trrip

Don't get this thinking you are getting another superb series of Bryson's observations.

He did a quickie trip for some aid organization and seems to have lept... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Hubert Smith

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed. Its not a book, its a Chapter.
Funny but no where's worth the money, even if he does donate the profits to CARE...hey, thats my money he's donating! Read more
Published 9 months ago by George A. Franke

4.0 out of 5 stars Incomparable Bill Bryson
This slim volume contains Bill Bryson's wit and
sense of humanity. I know few other writers who
can capture a sense of place as well as he can,
and his humor is... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Roberta Kravitz

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