Rating: 
Summary: HASTILY WRITTEN
Review: African Diary is not one of Bryson's best pieces of travel writing. Regardless of the fact that the profits from the book goes to a charity (CARE), readers deserve a well written book about Kenya and its people. After reading the slender volume you get a very shallow understanding of that country and its culture. Bryson could have done better but in eight days, what can you really share about a country? Bryson starts out by acknowledging his ignorance about the "Dark" continent beyond his exposure to Tarzan and Jungle Jim movies. CARE, a charitable organization, invites him to visit their projects in Kenya and write about them. He sees this as an opportunity to familiarize himself with the "Dark" continent. His diary covers eight days. In one week we are told about the biggest slum in Kenya called Kibera and are assaulted with the dire statistics of the ills of Kenya. He shares with us his excitement over seeing a Maasai man as if the man was an exotic pet. From there we are taken to Kenya's National Museum where he views human fossils collected by Leaky. Once done there he regales us with his harrowing train ride to Mombasa and describes accidents, deaths and other uncomfortable occurrances from the train's past. Our final destination is a refugee camp. CARE is doing its best to help the people but government corruption and other factors keep the people in a miserable condition. Suddenly Bryson's adventure is over and he slaps together this book. He could and should have done better. There isn't any true connection with the people, land or CARE workers other than the superficial meetings. In fact Bryson's ignorance about the "Dark" continent seems to continue throughout his trip. He could have done better and perhaps he needs to visit Africa again but this time without charitable patronage and get to meet and feel the land and its people.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book
Review: After reading Bill Bryson's brilliant A WALK IN THE WOODS, I was expecting much of the same in AFRICAN DIARY. That is not what I found. This little book was written for a totally different reason, and his stay in Kenya was much shorter than the time he spent on the Appalachian Trail (the subject of the of the previous book). Even though he was in Kenya a very short time, he witenessed life of poverty among luxury and painted vivid word pictures of how people live in a developing country and shows that in midst of poverty and deprivation live some of the most wonderful people on the face of the earth. Anyone contemplating a trip to a developing country should surely read this book to prepare them for what they will face. Those who have never visited such a country will have their eyes opened to an entirely new way of life. This book will make you laugh one minute and cry the next. I cannot wait to read more of his books.
Rating: 
Summary: More about the CARE organisation should be known
Review: An enthralling account of Bryson's visit to Kenya to observe the work of CARE workers. Written with clarity as regards facts of what he saw and with his inimitable style that adds humor to serious topics. All royalties of his book he donated to CARE.
Rating:
Summary: Heart, but not nearly enough soul.
Review: Be well advised that this extremely slender volume (whose reading time can be counted in minutes, not hours) is NOT the next "A Walk In The Woods" or "Neither Here Nor There" the hard-core Bryson fan has been waiting for since 1998. Sure... it's pure Bryson, and the profits and royalties go to a much-deserving cause (CARE)... but all in all it's just 50 tiny, well-spaced pages that just don't add up to a good value for voracious travel readers. If you feel need the need to give to charity: Write a check to the Salvation Army or the American Red Cross or your local fire and police departments. The only reason I didn't return this "book" for a refund was the charity angle -- otherwise I was personally disappointed from start to finish (which fortunately lasted less than 20 minutes).
Rating:
Summary: too short but fun bit of travel writing for a good cause
Review: Bill Bryson is a fantastic travel writer, and made this very very short book (only 49 pages!) still fun to read. I definitely wish it had been longer, but as all of the book's proceeds go to charity (specifically CARE, a wonderful organization that spends its money wisely and helps those in impoverished countries help themselves), I don't really mind. The book recounts his all too brief time in Africa (eight days), where he tours the east African nation of Kenya. He visits some of the areas in Kenya in the most need of CARE's help, such as the Nairobi slum of Kibera and the eastern refugee camp of Dadaab, filled with Somali exiles. It is quite sad to read about the horrible conditions many of these people face (wait till you read about what a flying toilet is), but heart warming to see that many are still hopeful and that all is not lost. It would seem that many of these people are good people; all they need is a chance. ...it was still fun to read and parts were hilarious. I enjoyed his early thoughts on Africa, such as the initial conversations with those who convinced him to go to Africa that except for the "diseases and the bandits and the railway from Nairobi to Mombasa, there's absolutely nothing to worry about"! I enjoyed reading about that railroad, which Bryson writes has a tradition of killing passengers and has even been named the Lunatic Express, though Bryson rode it without any serious mishap. Also lots of fun to read was his arrival in Nairobi; expecting the sunny little country town in "Out of Africa," Bryson was amazed to instead find traffic, high rise buildings, bill boards - as he puts it, Omaha! His description of a harrowing single-engine plane ride was very funny as well. A fun little book, one in you can read in an hour or two.
Rating:
Summary: Too short!
Review: Bill Bryson is the best travel writer around today. I've enjoyed all his other books (In a Sunburned Country, I'm a Stranger Here Myself,Notes from a Small Island) and I was quite surprised that this book was so short. Only 64 pages! You cannot possibly get the flavor of such a vast continent or country like Kenya in a few short pages. That said, what Bryson does provide is a humorous and illuminating glimpse into his subject but leave you begging for more. The proceeds from this book evidently have gone to charity so I won't complain too much. Overall, a very good read.
Rating: 
Summary: hopelessness
Review: Bill Bryson, an Iowan transplant to Britain (who has apparently moved back to the US), presents a brief overview of his extremely brief stay in Kenya. I laugh that this book is called "African Diary", given that Kenya is a small part of Africa in total. This is the way of the western world though... "Africa" is just lumped together as if there is such a thing as "African culture" rather than hundreds of different cultures on this misunderstood continent.
I happened to read this small tome at the same time as I was reading Michael Moore's rather inflammatory prose, and I found that the books went well together. In one book Moore points out the basic human right of clean water and sanitary living conditions, while Bryson travels through Kenya astounded by the sheer lack or at least rarity of these things. Both Bryson and Moore discuss how America consumes so many of the world's resources and wonders why the world hates the US. Bryson provides vivid detail, "Every time you flush a toilet (in the West) you use more water than the average person in the developing world has for all purposes in a day-cooking, cleaning, drinking, everything." Bryson learns this startling fact as he wanders through one of Nairobi's slums, having traveled to Kenya on behalf of the charity, CARE.
A theme of hopelessness pervades-parents in Kenya will do anything-any kind of suffering-in order for their children to get an education but then the children, having reached a certain level of education, cannot afford higher education anyway.
I was thankful here for Bryson's brevity, his "sense of humor" in previous/other books is not necessarily for everyone (I recognize that I am in the minority in not much enjoying his humor), and he kept his observations more anthropological than comedic here, and that lent a greater sense of urgency and validity to the subject matter at hand.
Rating:
Summary: Think of it as a Donation with a free Mini Book
Review: Book is very thin, but it has everything else in a Bryson book. Funny, enlightening, interesting.
Rating:
Summary: 3 stars for the writing, 5 for the cause.
Review: Bryson answered the call to help out the international relief organization CARE by accompanying them to Kenya and writing this brief diary. The heart he showed by volunteering (along with the publisher Broadway Books) to donate 100% of the proceeds is impressive, however, the heart he put into the writing is not so much. As always he shares his fears and shortcomings in a humorous way, but the gravity of his surroundings seemed to have moistened his wit more so than usual. He too briefly writes about a number of potentially interesting characters who would have been better served with a more thorough (and undoubtedly Bryson-esquely funny) description. This brevity neglects the human face of the very people CARE is trying to help. Nonetheless, Bryson still captivates, and though not up to par for him, this book would make a great stocking-stuffer for your favorite do-gooder and at the same time help those who need it most.
Rating:
Summary: Lacks the Usual "Bill-iance"
Review: Despite the book's trim offerings, I sat in a lawn chair and decided to give Bill Bryson and CARE (a humanitarian organization) the benefit of the doubt. How can you fault a writer or publisher who decides to give up time, comfort, and potentional profit for the sake of a charitable organization? In his vintage manner, Bryson had me laughing in the opening chapter. He pulled me into his excursion to the Dark Continent with promises of adventure. This, I thought, is pure Bill-iance--using warmth and disarming revelation to ambush me with cold, hard facts. Quickly, the thought faded. This African diary is mild on adventure, lightly flavored with humor, and boasts only a few chunks of worthy information. It's truly the sparsest of diaries. I applaud this book and its goals. If, however, you are looking for thirty minutes of Brysonian entertainment, this hardcover carries a hefty price for its content. Buy it, instead, as a relatively small donation to good work being done halfway around the globe.
| 
