Bill Bryson's African Diary
Selected Book Details
- Hardcover
- Edition: 1
- Author: Bill Bryson
- Publisher: Broadway
- Release Date: December 2002
- ISBN-10: 0767915062
- ISBN-13: 9780767915069
- List Price: $12.00
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Summaries and Customer Reviews provided by Amazon
SummaryBill Bryson travels to Kenya in support of CARE International. All royalties and profits go to CARE International. |
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Incomparable Bill Bryson
Rating:
This slim volume contains Bill Bryson's wit and
sense of humanity. I know few other writers who
can capture a sense of place as well as he can,
and his humor is matchless. My only disappoint-
ment was the fact that the book was, basically,
a short piece of travel writing that ended much
too quickly. Still, as always, I had to marvel
at his wonderful way with words. I look forward
to his next.
Bryson
Rating:
In his own disarming way, Bryson works very, very hard, and very, very well. Very entertaining. Very informative. Check out his other books. Or buy them, I guess I should say.
A Week in Kenya
Rating:
"Kenya has become a country of ten millionaires and ten million beggars." ~Kenyan politican J.M. Kariuki, assassinated in 1975
This book is only 49 pages which suited me just fine, considering how long it took me to read my last book. I picked this book not only because it is short but also because it is written by Bill Bryson. I have read most of his books and plan to read all of them eventually; however, none of them hold a candle to A Walk in the Woods, the first Bryson book I read.
The book is a diary of his week long journey to Kenya. He writes of the extreme poverty and government corruption of the country; however, he also includes anecdotes demonstrating that he can find humor and beauty in just about anything. I especially loved the section where he talks of his landing in a storm in a light aircraft plane. He is terrified to discover that the plane doesn't have windshield wipers and that the pilot can't see where he's landing. No one can verbalize the horror and comedy of the situation better than Bryson.
I also enjoyed the section about Wedco. Wedco is a micro-finance institution that makes loans only to women that previously had almost no access to business credit. It has been very successful in Kenya and has helped many people improve their quality of life. It reminded me of a book on my to-read list called Banker to the Poor by Muhammad Yunus. Just reading this small excerpt has been motivating and satisfactory. Now I am looking even more forward to this book.
Overall, the book simply wasn't long enough to satisfy; however, to be fair, it never was meant to be a detailed view into Kenya, it is simply a "diary" of Bryson's eight days in Kenya. He wrote the book at the invitation of CARE International and all proceeds went to the charity. The book is a good reminder to be thankful for what you have and to help when you can. It probably took me longer to write this review than it did to read the book.
The ever delightful Bill Bryson
Rating:
This is a short but delightful CD, produced to promote CARE and all profits and royalties go to that organization. Yet it's a wonderful audio CD that I recommend. However, there is only a single track and if you lose where you were, it's very hard to find the place again, especially while driving and there is no elapsed time indicator on the CD player.
A Brilliant Entry and for a Great Cause
Rating:
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.
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