His other books include I'm a Stranger Here Myself, In a Sunburned Country, Bill Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe, Made in America, The Mother Tongue, Bill Bryson's African Diary, A Short History of Nearly Everything, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, Walk About, and Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery, the Genius of the Royal Society. His first travel book, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, was published in 1989.

He moved back to the United States in 1995. He wrote for the English newspapers The Times and The Independent, as well as supplementing his income by writing travel articles. In 1973, he went backpacking in England, where he eventually decided to settle. Author Notesīill Bryson was born in Des Moines, Iowa on December 8, 1951. Wherever he goes he finds Australians who are cheerful, extroverted, and unfailingly obliging, and these beaming products of land with clean, safe cities, cold beer, and constant sunshine fill the pages of this wonderful book.Īustralia is an immense and fortunate land, and it has found in Bill Bryson its perfect guide. The result is a deliciously funny, fact-filled, and adventurous performance by a writer who combines humor, wonder, and unflagging curiousity.ĭespite the fact that Australia harbors more things that can kill you in extremely nasty ways than anywhere else, including sharks, crocodiles, snakes, even riptides and deserts, Bill Bryson adores the place, and he takes his readers on a rollicking ride far beyond that beaten tourist path.

In A Sunburned Country is his report on what he found in an entirely different place: Australia, the country that doubles as a continent, and a place with the friendliest inhabitants, the hottest, driest weather, and the most peculiar and lethal wildlife to be found on the planet. His previous excursion along the Appalachian Trail resulted in the sublime national bestseller A Walk in the Woods. Every time Bill Bryson walks out the door, memorable travel literature threatens to break out.

Sunburned country