Product Description

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4795 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 69 pages

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.

From the Back Cover
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.

The book will be illustrated with 8pp of colour.

Customer Reviews

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.

Not a 'proper' Bryson book, but entertaining......
I would urge everybody to read at least one Bill Bryson book in their lifetime. He is a most entertaining and intelligent writer, the kind who you would feel no qualms having a few drinks and a conversation with; he is that concilliatory with his readers.
This slim volume of sixty pages, however, was only intended to draw attention to the work of CARE and, despite the title, takes place in only one country (Kenya) of the massive African continent. Whereas I understand and appreciate the concern of the author and the charity, it is not a patch on the richly deep and hilarious 'proper' Bryson travel books such as Notes From A Small Island or A Walk In The Woods. Very much a completists buy.