22 JULY 2000, page 35

His Ignorance Is Bliss

Michael Davie DOWN UNDER by Bill Bryson Doubleday, f16.99, pp. 319 GRANTA 70, AUSTRALIA Granta £9.99 pp. 352 B efore Bill Bryson went to Australia, he heard this story. An......

If At First You Do Succeed

Francis King PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST AS AN OLD MAN by Joseph Heller Scribner, £12.99, pp. 233 M y advice to young people about to embark on literary careers is always the same: of......