In a Sunburned Country

AKA Downunder
Bill Bryson follows his Appalachian amble, A Walk in the Woods,
with the story of his exploits in Australia, where A-bombs go off
unnoticed, prime ministers disappear into the surf, and cheery citizens
coexist with the world's deadliest creatures: toxic caterpillars,
aggressive seashells, crocodiles, sharks, snakes, and the deadliest of them all, the dreaded box jellyfish. And that's just the beginning, as Bryson treks through sunbaked deserts and up endless coastlines,
crisscrossing the “under-discovered” Down Under in search of all things
interesting. Bryson, who could make a pile of dirt compelling--and yes, Australia is
mostly dirt--finds no shortage of curiosities. When he isn't dodging
Portuguese man-of-wars or considering the virtues of the remarkable
platypus, he visits southwest Gippsland, home of the world's largest
earthworms (up to 12 feet in length). He discovers that Australia, which
began nationhood as a prison, contains the longest straight stretch of railroad track in the world (297 miles), as well as the world's largest
monolith (the majestic Uluru) and largest living thing (the Great
Barrier Reef). He finds ridiculous place names: “Mullumbimby
Ewylamartup, Jiggalong, and the supremely satisfying Tittybong,” and manages to catch a cricket game on the radio, which is like
listening
to two men sitting in a rowboat on a large, placid lake on a day when
the fish aren't biting; it's like having a nap without losing
consciousness. It actually helps not to know quite what's going on. In
such a rarefied world of contentment and inactivity, comprehension would
become a distraction. “You see,” Bryson observes,
“Australia is an interesting place. It truly is. And that really is all
I'm saying.” Of course, Bryson--who is as much a travel writer here as a
humorist, naturalist, and historian--says much more, and does so with
generous amounts of wit and hilarity. Australia may be “mostly empty
and a long way away,” but it's a little closer now.