The famously sardonic travel-writer Bill Bryson assures the readers of his African Diary that "in acquiring this slender volume you didn't actually buy a book. You made a generous donation to a worthy cause and got a free book in return." More disappointing than the text's brevity is its tone. African Diary is permeated by a po-faced, gee-whizz sincerity ill-suited to a writer who has made his reputation for being light and wry (and even snide) in droll travel books.