The premise of Greater Nowheres is simple. Dave Finkelstein and Jack London are on the hunt for a mythical yet terrifying elusive crocodile in the Australian bush. Despite their lackadaisical searching Finkelstein and London never meet up with the famed creature (sorry to disappoint). Instead, Greater Nowheres becomes an eye opening account of a region in Western and Northern Australia few have traveled just for the fun of it. Finkelstein and London take turns writing chapters about their adventures and it is interesting to see their differing styles on the page. One thing they both comment on is the inhospitable climate of the Australian Bush, a place where temperatures can soar and stay elevated (above 100 degrees) even at 10 o'clock at night. After awhile you sense a pattern, every place they visit is desolate but fiercely loved by the people who call it home. ( )

An interesting long ago (book was published in 1987) look at travel in Australia. The authors do well to orient the reader to Australia's size and climate if they're unfaliliar ("..imagine the part of the Unitd States lying between the Appalachians and the Rockies as one enourmous wasteland, with hardly a distinguishing natural feature...") Although the book was nominally not to be concerned with "tourist Australia", they visited a number of the places I did in 2005 especially in WA. Going so far off the beaten track and "beyond the black stump" they met some very interesting characters.