Synopses & Reviews
From a floury encounter on a baker’s work table to the art of sitting backwards on chairs, from budgie training to spontaneous human combustion, this collection showcases the nonfiction writing of one of Australia’s best-loved authors. These pieces encompass suburban portraits and coastal living, affectionate nostalgia and the absurdity of the every day. They are endearing and often hilarious snapshots of life from a master novelist who has turned the column into an artform.
Review
“Full of incident, oddity, humanity, and poetry. . . . This is in the true sense a delightful book.” —Thomas Keneally, author, Schindler's Ark, on The Drowner
Review
"A beautifully crafted book. It switches effortlessly between travel literature, reportage, local history, nature writing, and film and literature criticism. . . . This dazzling memoir is a perfectly integrated work of art. Drewe’s literary instincts are as impeccable as his ear for the English language is unfaltering, and his latest memoir has all the more force for being set down with such a delicate hand." —Australian on Montebello
Review
"At heart a moving and profound love story. This is a splendid memoir with many moods—delicate, tough, ironic, compassionate—that are beautifully controlled and paced." —Australian Book Review on Montebello
About the Author
Robert Drewe is the author of numerous short stories, novels, and nonfiction works, including The Drowner, Sand, and two memoirs, Montebello and The Shark Net. He is the recipient of a Commonwealth Literary Prize and two Walkley Awards for journalism.