Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78528 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Synopsis
A freelance journalist describes his hitchhiking journey across seven thousand miles of Australia's barren outback, recalling the Aborigines, con men, card sharks, pearl divers, and other travelers he encountered along the way. Rerpint. 12,500 first printing.

Customer Reviews

Superb
I read Horwitz's book around six months after reading Bill Bryson's "Down Under". Well, the difference is amazing and (unwittingly) pointed out by Horwtiz in the book. His travels led him to encounter so many different people, to change his perceptions and have a good laugh along the way. His prose is funny and very intellegent - much like Bryson has been in his previous works. And it was Horwitz's travels and encounters which made me realise why Bryson's book is so flawed (in my eyes, at least)....namely, Bryson doesn't scratch below the surface of Oz first hand - just by literary research and interactions with people already known to him. But I'm reviewing Horwitz's book, and I can't speak highly enough of it. With no false enthusiasm, it's one of those which you will be passing on to your friends to read once you've finished.

"You may find yourself . . . "
There are constraints to Australian road travel - the chief one being that the cities, hence, the roads, hug the coasts. There are dangers, desolation, loneliness, above all, heat. And flies. It takes some courage to face these conditions alone, even in modern times. Tony Horwitz faced them alone and on foot - some of the time. The result was a fantastic voyage and a superb account.

Horwitz is an unlikely prospect for an Australian adventurer. A transplanted Yank [Washington, DC to Sydney], urban [New York City to, again, Sydney] and Jewish [a bit anomalous in the Outback]. These conditions might fatally impair the less adventurous, but Horwitz can "boldly go" [as he did in a later book] and so he does. With singular dedication, he even starts his trek heading West from Sydney past Dubbo to the Alice. With no direct Sydney to Alice route, the journey is circuitous, a fine introduction to the later expedition. Here, Horwitz encounters people and displays his talent at recording them. The limited number of roads implies limited options and few rides. It's a closed world and he becomes "the crazy Yank we heard about back in Nevertire."

Constricted view doesn't inhibit Horwitz' abilities. He has an advantage over many travel writers - he's a journalist first and a traveller after. A perceptive eye and a talented pen record his reaction to the land of Australia. And the people he encounters, which become the focus of his attention. He's good with people, drawing them out - fulfilling the image of the chatty Yank, entertaining, but somehow provocative. The drivers, pub keepers and drinkers respond to his novelty. He records them with lively asides, keeping your interest with every page. 'Surely, these can't be real people,' you may think. No worries - Horwitz has captured them intimately, intruding only lightly as they respond to his queries.

A poignant chapter, describing his search for a Jewish family in Broome with whom to celebrate Passover, is the highlight of the book. Noting the town's multiracial population, he observes: "Australians . . . seem uncomfortable when the subject of Judaism is raised." He attributes the feeling purely to ignorance, not prejudice, a welcome change from attitudes toward the "Abos." Horowitz, although claiming atheism, remains drawn to the family gathering of the seder. Alone in Broome, he discovers a new level of solitude - in this polyglot community, Jews are rarer than jewels. He pores over the telephone directory which only displays "an Anglo-Saxon litany of Browns, Harrisons and Smiths." A solution beckons in the guise of a local priest. "It is a common sort of misconception. If there's no rabbi about, well, try a priest. One religious ratbag's as good as another." The solution, however, lies elsewhere. The situation amply portrays Horwitz' humanity, absolving him of any stigma of the detached, unfeeling journalist. His roots are a significant element in his life, one that gently, but insistently, haunts him. This book can haunt you, as it does me.

you can almost feel the heat!
A very amusing and informative road trip through Australia - you can almost feel the heat and the dust, you can sense the need for a beer and share the author's astonishment at the perky, quirky ways of the outback. I enjoyed this book very much. One criticism - the publisher could have included a map of the route.