Product Description

Bill Bryson goes to Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, the charity dedicated to working with local communities to eradicate poverty around the world. Kenya, generally regarded as the cradle of mankind, is a land of contrasts, with famous game reserves, stunning landscapes, and a vibrant cultural tradition. 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. But on a more sober note, it is a country that shares many serious human and environmental problems with the rest of Africa: refugees, AIDS, drought and grinding poverty. Travelling around the country, Bryson casts his inimitable eye on a continent new to him, and the resultant diary, though short in length, contains the trademark Bryson stamp of wry observation and curious insight. All the author's royalties from "Bill Bryson's African Diary", as well as all profits, will go to CARE International.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4866 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 69 pages

Review
Bill Bryson, author of Notes from a Small Island and many other irresistibly funny travel books, requires no introduction, but his African Diary does. Bryson was invited by CARE International, a charity dedicated to working with local communities to eradicate poverty, to go to Kenya to visit some of their projects, and write a few words on their behalf. The result is this slim hardback, which contains just 49 pages of text by the author plus eight pages of excellent colour photographs. Bryson himself clearly sets out the deal on the last page - 'in acquiring this slim volume you don't actually buy a book. You make a donation to a worthy cause, and get a free book in return'. But many devoted readers will buy this volume as a new Bryson book, so how does it rate? Bryson sets out to write a short diary of an organized trip to Kenya, and achieves little more, or less, than that. This is most definitely not a typical Bryson travel book (in fact at around 11,000 words it is more of a long article than a short book), and his unique humour, which has created so many bestsellers, is limited to a few sections on Kenya Railways and a plane flight. The descriptions of the CARE projects rarely rise above the ordinary, and in most cases could have been written by CARE's own PR department. The author sums it up himself on page 55, 'Well, that's pretty much it, I'm afraid...obviously there is only so much you can learn about a country in eight days.' But it would be churlish to be too critical; the whole exercise benefits a very good cause, and Bryson and the CARE team have produced a handsome little book. (Kirkus UK)

Synopsis
Bill Bryson goes to Kenya at the invitation of CARE International, the charity dedicated to working with local communities to eradicate poverty around the world. Kenya, generally regarded as the cradle of mankind, is a land of contrasts, with famous game reserves, stunning landscapes, and a vibrant cultural tradition. 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. But on a more sober note, it is a country that shares many serious human and environmental problems with the rest of Africa: refugees, AIDS, drought and grinding poverty. Travelling around the country, Bryson casts his inimitable eye on a continent new to him, and the resultant diary, though short in length, contains the trademark Bryson stamp of wry observation and curious insight. All the author's royalties from "Bill Bryson's African Diary", as well as all profits, will go to CARE International.

From the Publisher
Bryson travels to Kenya in support of CARE International and brings his inimitable humorous and humane view to Africa.

Customer Reviews

Short and sweet, fund raiser!
The phrase short and sweet popped into my mind about this 49 page little book about Bill Bryson's 8 days in Kenya. It is actually a bitter sweet account about the work of the charity organization CARE one of the worlds leading international organizations fighting against poverty. They believe that by working to find the source of a communities problems and solving it they can help make the world a safer and more stable place for us all.
Unfortunately the book is a very superficial glance into the problems that are facing Kenya poverty, war, disease and corruption. However it did its job reminding me that we should be grateful for the small things in life and appreciate the fact that there are millions of people in Africa lacking even the basics for survival.

A Brilliant Entry for a Great Cause
Bill Bryson is the funniest travel writer working today, I believe, and even when he takes on what is an unpleasant task - visiting one of the most depressed areas of the world in order to raise funds for CARE, he does it in a hilarious way.

In this short little book, Bryson not only shares with us his (by turns) funny and heartbreaking journey, we also get to meet some amazing people. The lady who works twelve-hour days in order to get a profit of some $7 or $8 - the farmer who has made a fantastic farm and is very proud of it - the villagers who come out to welcome the visitors with open arms because of a well that was built, eliminating the need for the women of the village to make a seven-hour roundtrip journey to the nearest water source. This is what it's all about - this is the magical work that CARE does with the funds that are donated.

Bryson is his usual, witty self, freely confessing that the homework he did in preparing for his trip was watching Out of Africa numerous times, and he thought that he was going to be on an estate being served coffee for most of the trip. The reality was somewhat different, but still far afield from what he expected. That I not only laughed out loud but insisted on reading choice bits aloud to my husband is a testament to the talent and humor that Bryson brings to everything he does.

It's a charity book, people...
This was never intended to be a regular Bill Bryson book. He was invited to take a short trip to Africa, on a timetable set by his charitable guests, and to produce an equally short volume to raise funds for the charity. This he did, taking no royalties for himself. To complain about the length or to compare it to his other travelogues completely misses the point. Yes it's short, but bear in mind that for a hardcover it's pretty cheap.

As it happens, the standard of writing is as high as ever - laugh-out-loud anecdotes mixed with thought-provoking and fascinating insights into the lives of the people helped by the charity. It's well worth buying for that alone, regardless of the fact that for once your money will be doing some good rather than lining a publisher's pockets.