WINNER OF THE AUSTRALIA-ASIA LITERARY AWARD

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIME MINISTER'S LITERARY AWARD

In these thirty-one stories David Malouf’s imagination inhabits shocking violence, quick humour, appealing warmth and harsh cruelty with equal intensity. He shares tales of bookish boys, taciturn men and intimate stories of men and women looking for something they seem to have missed, or missed out on.

A comprehensive compilation of David’s shorter work, the stories are set in the stark and challenging Australian interior and the more lush and mysterious coastal enclaves; others are set in Australia's past.

The youthful dreams, physical desires and mental despair of Malouf's richly varied characters as they explore their place in the world are always moving and universal.

Readers won't want to skim a single page of the stories in this epic collection, a few of which are novella length. Together, they represent a quarter-century of a formidable craftsman's career.

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‘Australia’s finest writer’ MIRIAM COSIC, THE AUSTRALIAN

‘Malouf is a lyrical story-writer.’ MALCOLM KNOX, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

‘A richly imagistic writer, philosophical and literary in the best sense.’ WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD

‘A first-rate writer-a sensitive historian of the spirit.’ WALL STREET JOURNAL