Bypass: The Story of a Road

by Michael McGirr

Forty and flabby, Michael McGirr hits the Hume Highway on a cheap bicycle. Having stopped working as a Jesuit priest, he is on a quest to find heaven knows what. Along the way, he is joined by Jenny.

Bypass is the story of Australia’s main street, the much-unloved highway between Sydney and Melbourne. The Hume has plenty of tales to tell—of bushrangers and bus drivers, publicans and poets, runners and refugees—and McGirr discovers he has one to add to the swag. The road is a source of wisdom and comedy, and maybe even a fine romance.

One of the most popular books by the author of Things You Get For Free and Books that Saved My Life, Bypass is both a personal memoir and an unconventional biography of the road most travelled. This edition includes ‘Passing By’, a new afterword bringing the story up to date.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Michael McGirr is the author of Things You Get for Free and The Lost Art of Sleep. His book Bypass: The Story of a Road has been a popular Year 12 English text in Victoria. He has reviewed over 900 books for the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He is currently dean of faith at St Kevin’s College in Melbourne.

Reviews

[Ruby · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pseudo-Philosophy from page to page. You can quote everything in it and it seems to sound good, but I don't think there's really anything there.
While the idea to link himself to history seems good, it really just feels like he's stealing other people's words to explain himself.

[Jeanie Blyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up 6 miles from Tarcutta meant the Hume Highway was very central to life. It’s a joy to read this, especially remembering how my late father would have relished McGirr’s style and wit.

There were many stories of tractors being driven down from Sydney, stock escaping, and townsfolk rallying to ‘help clear up’ toilet paper, crumpets, oranges and other stuff. During the war my dairy farmer dad was in the local land army. They’d been told by high ups that “if the japs came down the Hume, use whatever you’ve got.” They had shovels.

Recalling long road trips down and up the highway, fiddling with the radio dial to get reception, negotiating the single lanes, edging up behind a bulky thundering semi, to see if it was safe to overtake. Often in the dark, when no oncoming lights meant go go go.

I miss the mandatory drive through towns, it was a lovely marking ritual to arrive at each place, wondering if one had enough fuel to get to the next, and having favourite cafes, like the Niagara in Gundagai, and another cosy one in the main Street of Goulburn.

The new freeway is safer and faster, but devoid of diversity and character.
I’m really enjoying remembering Cliff Young, and bumper stickers. Hardly any cars have bumper stickers these days.

If nothing else, this wins as excellent social history.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

By Pass is about the Hume Highway in Victoria, Australia. This sound mundane but it is a delightful book. McGirr writes about the history of the road from mid-19th Century - gold rush highway,the route for settlers, Ned Kelly's thoroughfare, where Ivan Milat captured backpackers in the 1980s, the truckies' blockade in the 1970's, the quarrels of explorers Hume and Hovell as they navigated the road together etc etc. It is also about the author's own philosophical journey as he begins life anew after leaving the Jesuit Order. He rides the Hume on a bicycle so comes in close contact with those whose lives are affected by their towns being by-passed over the years - sometimes happily, sometimes not.
McGirr has a wonderful sense of humour, a dry wit and an excellent writing style.

[Neil Connolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the narrative of this book is interesting, the highlight for me was the beautiful dedication written to me from a special gift-giver.

[Marles Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A road can go in two directions at once. Maybe more. But the rest of us can only go in one."

Michael McGirr originally published this book in 2004. This new edition includes an afterword that brings the story to 2021. This book takes you on a slow trip down the Hume Highway from Sydney to Melbourne. Michael provides a history of the highway and Australia that you might not know of. Michael rides a bike through many towns that are now bypassed with the construction of the freeway over many years.

He meets so many characters that you won't meet when you look up these towns, interwoven with the historical characters you might know are already associated with them. I recall many of these from the many driving holidays to Melbourne I undertook as a child. A lot of the sights that Michael highlights are also part of my memories, watching some go past through a back-seat windows with my walkman blaring in my ears. I can remember almost all of the towns, like Tarcutta, Holbrook, Gundagai, Wangaratta: each of them was a change from watching the one and two lane carriageways before us. I remember two particular roadhouses along the way, one was often our first petrol and breakfast stop after leaving home at 2am. This was a nostalgic read; a great insight into the author's journey with one path ending behind him, and another opening up right before his eyes. I liked the philosophical nature of this book, and I loved Jenny, his now partner, as they rational and logical voice of reason balancing his thoughts.

"You can set foot on the same road twice. But you won't be the same person when you do."

Thanks Text Publishing for the copy!

[Ely · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book ever studied for Lit class, I think I'll remember this one for a while.

[Jessica G · Rating 1 out of 5]

I studied this book in Year 12 English. It is possibly one of the worst books ever written. I hated every millisecond of this book. It has been my life mission ever since to make sure no-one else is ever forced to read this.

Here's a sampling of the visceral rage I still feel 15 years later:
1. McGirr's diary is "accidentally" sent through the conveyor belt and he doesn't say anything because he starts proselyting about how it makes him such a wise and smart person because of how he allows the diary to be scanned.
2. McGirr picks up pieces of rubbish from the side of the Hume Highway and collects them over actual meaningful objects because he's being sentimental and oh so deep!
3. I actually read this book in one of the locations mentioned in the story (Broadford). When I read that part, I immediately knew McGirr had never visited Broadford, and started to distrust everything I'd read before that moment.
4. The only part my classmates liked were the bumper stickers that preface each chapter. Funny, considering it's the one part of this story he DIDN'T write.
5. This book kickstarted my disdain for any author who masturbatorily prattles on and on about Tolstoy. In 2024, I read The Tolstoy Estate. Another awful book, though not on Bypass' level. Funny though that it's happened twice.
6. At the end of Year 12, a family member expressed an interest in reading this, and I don't think I've ever given away a book so quickly in my life.

There's more, but I'll end here...for now. I have no problem with the author, I just had such an awful time with this book, and you shouldn't read it. I think one of the top reviews sums this book up succinctly: "pseudo-Philosophy from page to page. You can quote everything in it and it seems to sound good, but I don't think there's really anything there."

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This book has been a nice diversion from the collection of Japan-themed books I have been reading recently. This history of the Hume Highway is the sort of rollicking yarn that the term "quintessentially Australian" is made for.

As a Victoria, the Hume definitely looms large in my awareness, but it is interesting to learn that it has actually played a significant part in many aspects of Australian history (despite it not being Route 1 / "the main road" as such - that would be the Princes Highway/Pacific Hwy)

Michael McGirr was in an interesting time of his life when he undertook his bike ride along the Hume - he was trying to find his feet again after recently leaving the priesthood - and I would have liked to read more about this aspect of his story. I was surprised to learn that his book was used as an English study text for many years, and would be curious to find out how they studied it; I might not have read it carefully enough but it just didn't seem to have enough personal growth or reflection to really analyse.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is interesting in that it's fairly recent, 2003, and McGirr covered a lot of territory, history and contemporary stuff.

McGirr has wound a story around the history, people and places and development of the highway around his own story and seems to be using it as some sort of cathartic exercise to justify both his decision to leave the Jesuit Priesthood and his very existence.

The book is worth a read for his light and breezy style while it is dealing with more serious matters of life.

[Amanda Witt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very detailed book about a road most people in Victoria and New South Wales know and use but don't think much about in the small details.
The author embarks on a bike ride from Sydney to Melbourne and the text is interspersed with history facts, sombre moments like roadside memorials and slightly humourous reports of what is seen along the way.

[Text Publishing]

The following book reviews have been shared by Text Publishing – publisher of Bypass

‘Sweet, wise and funny…I recommend the new edition, which tells you what happened next.’
Australian

[Janie Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the way McGirr mixes history of Australia and the Hume Highway and the people he meets along the Way, with his own life. His droll humour makes me laugh out loud at times and his sensitivity and compassion are evident. A thought provoking read.

[Jane Routley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to read such a good book about my own back yard

[Jane ONeill · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a history of driving up and down the Hume then this book will resonate with you. It’s written with a good dose of humour and very enjoyable.

[Ruth Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting wander along the Hume Highway.

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Borrowed from Mum. Lots of fun anecdotes and historical snippets, adding up to a lightweight read. Adequate but not exciting or profound

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed the historical anecdotes about the various places on the trip & the authors insights about human nature & development