ABOUT THE BOOK “This is a country that loses a prime minister and that is so vast and empty that a band of amateur enthusiasts could conceivably set off the world’s first non-governmental atomic bomb on its mainland almost four years would pass before anyone noticed. Clearly, this is a place worth getting to know.” In a Sunburned Country is Bill Bryson’s seventh book on travel. Published just five years after his much-celebrated travelogue of Great Britain, Notes from a Small Island, the book takes on a much bigger topic: Australia. The book was published just before the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, and some later editions have an appendix chronicling Bryson’s time spent as a spectator. Yet, the focus of the book is on Bryson’s several trips to the massive island over the course of a year. Bryson finds himself hopping back and forth between various points in Australia, his home in New England, and a few other international locales. He never strays for long though, and much of the book is spent in the car and at dozens of hotels, pubs, and attractions along Australia’s 23,000 mile coastline. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Next we meet Alan Howe, an old friend from London. Along with his wife, Carmel, Howe takes Bryson on several adventures to natural wonders, many of which are quite near his vacation home in the hills. After journeying with Howe for a few days, Bryson again strikes out on his own and heads north towards Brisbane. In the midst of his travels, he digresses into a chapter about Australia’s native people—the Aborigines. The history is unbelievable. The Aborigines are an incredibly ancient tribe who still astound scientists today. After a short time walking the beaches of the Gold Coast and extolling the history of the area, Bryson departs, returns home for a time, then returns for the final leg of his trip. In part three, “Around the Edges,” Bryson careens towards the wilder parts of the country. He is accompanied by Allan Sherwin, a friend from London. The most exciting leg of his journey begins as he travels to Great Barrier Reef and braves the sharks and waves native to the area. Buy a copy to keep reading!

Hailed as the most popular Industrial band of all time, Nine Inch Nails is a rather odd group, as it has only one true member: Trent Reznor. Though supported in concert by a band consisting of regular backup musicians, NIN is Reznor's brainchild, his baby, his masterpiece. It was this, along with its style, that made the band truly unique. Along with bands such as Ministry, they defined both a genre and a musical generation. Back in the 90s, when other industrial bands were focused on making postmodern-esque electronic noise, Reznor moved to the beat of his own drum, writing melodic and lyrical songs which, while they skirted the edge of pop music, could still be considered to very much keep with the 'industrial' genre. Indeed, one could argue that Reznor was one of the largest influences on the evolution of the Industrial genre during this period.

ABOUT THE BOOK The first time I read a Bill Bryson book, I was not expecting much at all. For many years my family shared a rustic cottage on a lake with all the other members of my mother's family. Entertainment on nice days usually involved swimming, swimming, more swimming, and the occasional nap. On gray days, we read. Over the years four generations of the family left behind a muddled collection of books. When I read through the books I had brought with me, I'd grab whatever my relations had left behind. That's how I first encountered Bill Bryson. I found a well-worn, tattered copy of A Walk in the Woods, left behind by a relative. I picked it up with uncertainty, not sure I was completely interested in a stranger's account of a summer spent hiking the Appalachian Trail. As for a stranger who told that story while trying to be funny? I suspended my disbelief. But, Bryson really was funny. So funny that when I returned home I promptly ordered a copy and made my husband read it. After finishing it, he went out and got still more Bryson books. They were funny, too. That's the first thing that should be said about Bryson, and about Notes from a Big Land: It's a funny book written by a man who has a mastery of funny. MEET THE AUTHOR Peg Robinson holds a BA in Religious Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and has partially completed an MA/PhD in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She holds a certificate in copy editing from Media Bistro. Her publishing career started in 1998, on winning a place in Simon and Schuster's Star Trek: Strange New Worlds competition. Her novelette "Tonino and the Incubus" qualified for the 2007 Nebula Awards. She has worked as a content provider, copy writer, informational writer, copy editor, and developmental editor. EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Notes from a Big Country is the British version of a book published in the United States under the title I'm a Stranger Here, Myself. Both books are compiled of essays written for the British publication, Mail on Sunday's Night and Day, edited by Simon Kelner, a friend and associate of Bryson's. There are extensive differences between the two books. Notes from a Big Country contains a full 78 essays; I'm a Stranger Here, Myself contains only 70. Editorial adjustments were made to take the language and assumptions of each nation into account. An extensive comparison of the two volumes can be found from the Department of Translation Studies, at the University of Tanjere. The linguistic analysis may not interest everyone, but it provides a fairly extensive overview of the changes made in adapting the book for two distinct audiences. There is no question to an American reader that Notes from a Big Country was written for an English audience. While Bryson is on record as considering his identity in England that of an outsider it's impossible to read the essay chapters without realising how deeply Bryson has adapted to English culture. It's equally impossible to miss how profoundly he felt the culture-shock on returning to the United States. Buy a copy to keep reading! CHAPTER OUTLINE Quicklet on Bill Bryson's Notes from a Big Country Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Big Country + Introduction + Biographical Information + Overview: Notes from a Big Country + Material and Tone + ...and much more

Before New York Times bestselling author Bill Bryson wrote The Road to Little Dribbling, he took this delightfully irreverent jaunt around the unparalleled floating nation of Great Britain, which has produced zebra crossings, Shakespeare, Twiggie Winkie’s Farm, and places with names like Farleigh Wallop and Titsey.