Bill Bryson's African Diary |  | Author: Bill Bryson
Publisher: Broadway
Category: eBooks
This item is no longer available
Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 3561
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Edition: 1
Pages: 64
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 916.7620443
ASIN: B000XUBG3C
Publication Date: December 18, 2007
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Product Description
In the late 1940s and early 1950s after he became a little too saggy to fit into a Tarzan loincloth without depressing popcorn sales among cinema audiences, the great Johnny Weissmuller filled the twilight years of his acting career with a series of low-budget adventure movies with titles like Devil Goddess and Jungle Moon Men, all built around a character called Jungle Jim. These modest epics are largely forgotten now, which is a pity because they were possibly the most cherishably terrible movies ever made.
The plots seldom got anywhere near coherence. My own favorite, called Pygmy Island, involved a lost tribe of white midgets and a strange but valiant fight against the spread of Communism. But the narrative possibilities were practically infinite since each Jungle Jim feature consisted in large measure of scenes taken from other, wholly unrelated adventure movies. Whatever footage was available--train crashes, volcanic eruptions, rhino charges, panic scenes involving large crowds of Japanese--would be snipped from the original and woven into Jungle Jim's wondrously accommodating story lines. From time to time, the ever-more-fleshy Weissmuller would appear on the scene to wrestle the life out of a curiously rigid and unresisting crocodile or chase some cannibals into the woods, but these intrusions were generally brief and seldom entirely explained.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that no more than four people at a time ever paid money to watch a Jungle Jim movie. The series might well have escaped my own attention except that in about 1959 WOI-TV, a television station well known in central Iowa for its tireless commitment to mediocrity, acquired the complete Jungle Jim oeuvre and for the next dozen or so years showed two of them back to back late every Friday night. What is especially tragic about all this is that I not only watched these movies with unaccountable devotion, but was indelibly influenced by them.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 67
 The Loin King January 9, 2003
31 out of 36 found this review helpful
I promised myself I wouldn't write a review because I work for CARE and went on the trip to Kenya with Bill Bryson. However - His undertaking was phenomenal. Breaking off from his current writing project to travel to an unknown continent for 8 days, make sense of it, write up 10,000 words ( that's how many we felt we could ask him to undertake, he actually wrote 12,000)in two weeks, and turn it round in time for a Christmas book. Admire that, but also admire the motives and the results of this short but sweet volume. There are classic Bryson moments, humour and a well structured view of a country on the verge of great change. Believe me, your ($$) is making a huge difference to people's lives. And the book on your shelf can be a gentle reminder of your generosity and compassion. Thank you Amazon and all purchasers!
Hope, Despair and a Little Humor December 16, 2002
Michele Cozzens (Cloud 8)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I enjoyed reading this "slender volume," that merely scratches the surface of life in Kenya. Through his CARE escorts, Bryson sees and describes a country that most tourists either never see and (even after visits to East Africa) do not know exists. I have seen the slum Kibera from a passing train and the smell and noise perforated the train walls as we rumbled by. That Byrson walked the streets of this enormous conglomeration of tin roofs and dung and garbage-filled alleys is amazing. Peppering in his fears and a little humor, he captures the despair and ultimately, the hopelessness. While Kenyan residents like to say there's always hope, anyone who has worked for CARE or is familiar with its tasks, realizes that there isn't much hope in changing the lives of those in Third World slums and refugee camps. I'm happy to know my purchase of this book made a contribution to CARE, because all we can really do is keep funding the attempt to improve these lives just a little bit. Mr. Bryson, I'm glad you made it through all those light aircraft adventures and look forward to reading more of your future work.
Michele Cozzens, Author of A Line Between Friends and The Things I Wish I'd Said.
I think he'll go back June 26, 2003
Patricia Kramer (Madison, WI USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I gave this book 5 stars for its simplicity, its humor, and for the publicity it brings to CARE and the important work they do. Bryson is greatly impressed by the people of Kenya most, which with the background of the incredible landscape and wildlife says a lot. He says," I can't tell you how much I wish you could have met William Gumbo, for he was an inspiration.". William Gumbo is a CARE success story, as part of the Dak Achana program, William was shown how to increase his farm yields and diversify his crops. His output today is amazing, every detail kept track of in his notebook. The most important part of the program is William then teaches other farmers what he has learned. He passes it on. Kenya is a complex country with incredible problems and incredible beauty and people. I bet Bill Bryson will make a longer visit, avoiding small planes. There are so many stories waiting to be told. Thank you for doing this book project, it makes me ache to visit again also.
meurig October 2, 2005
Meurig Powell
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
you should have informed me that it was a contribution to a charity. However, having seen the reason,I have no objection to the donation that mr Bryson and myself have made. If the book had been 200 or more pages ,I would have happily paid twice or three times the price. When is his next book available?
Thin but worthy February 26, 2006
Philosopher's Curve (AZ, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is such a thin book, but Bryson is the best non-fiction writer out there today. As it turns out, he isn't taking a dime for his work on this project, but is contributing it all to CARE to help the impoverished people in Africa.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 67
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