I've been reading 'In a Sunburned Country' by Bill Bryson, an American journalist, who writes fantastic books about his travels and other things which interest him. In a Sunburned Country is about a visit to Australia. It is irreverent, informative and interesting. What comes through is that Bryson loves this place.
Here is one little anecdote which is a good example of his style:
In the 1950s a friend ... moved with her young family into a house next door to a vacant lot. One day a construction crew turned up to build a house on the lot. The friend had a four-year-old daughter who naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next door. She hung around on the margins and eventually the construction workers adopted her as a kind of mascot. They chatted to her and gave her little jobs to do and at the end of the week presented her with a little pay packet containing a shiny new half crown.
She took this home to her mother, who made all the appropriate cooings of admiration and suggested that they take it to the bank the next morning to deposit it in her account. When they went to the bank, the teller was equally impressed and asked the little girl how she had come by her own pay packet.
"I've been building a house this week," she replied proudly.
"Goodness!" said the teller. "And will you be building a house next week, too?"
"I will if we ever get the fucking bricks," answered the little girl.
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