Caspar Jolley is a thrillseeker with a gift for always staying one step ahead. Doctor Evelyn Flowers is a woman of science – and sensuality. Brought together by an off-street speedboat-racing catastrophe, will they be able to overcome a bizarre and confounding injury? Hilarious, inventive and ultimately moving, Ahead of the Game is a brilliant new story from one of Australia's most unique comic voices.
Beneath its peaceful exterior, the city of Adelaide and its surrounding areas have a dark history. From the disappearance of the Beaumont children to the Snowtown killings in the 1990s, it has been home to a long series of brutal and baffling killings and abductions. In The Element of Need, acclaimed author James Bradley uses this long history of violence as the basis of a fascinating exploration not just of his own childhood and adolescence, but of the psychic landscape of this most haunted of cities.
Squeaker, a selector, is slowly clearing his piece of the Australian bush. However, lazy and shiftless, he leaves most of the work to his uncomplaining and hardworking mate. When she is crushed under a falling yellow gum, Squeaker responds only with selfish impatience. Taught to endlessly endure by her harsh surroundings, Squeaker's mate carries the burden of her injury quietly, with only her old dog for comfort. Published as part of Barbara Baynton's iconic collection Bush Studies in 1902, Squeaker's Mate is a visceral and lyrical story about the hostility faced by European settlers in the Australian bush during settlement. From an era when literature focused almost entirely on men and male experiences, Squeaker's Mate is an important depiction of the unique trials and strengths of women.
When Jill Meagher went missing and was then found murdered in 2012, the city of Melbourne was shaken to the core. Emotional responses ranged from grief to guilt to rage to defensiveness, but no one was left untouched. The media coverage was unrelenting and overwhelming, constantly updating readers and viewers on the latest awful details, and friends and neighbours couldn't help but discuss it. Here acclaimed writer Michaela McGuire eloquently describes how, as the story continued to unfold, it wove itself through the fabric of the city. A Story of Grief is a deeply moving examination of the act of grief and how the death of someone we don't know personally can still consume us. 'Affecting and thought-provoking.' Newcastle Herald
In a small Australian country town, a young woman is accused of the murders of her own daughter and the local rat catcher's wife. As she stands to face the charges in court, a stranger enters, determined to explain her crimes. This masterly story from Woman in a Lampshade perfectly displays Elizabeth Jolley's remarkable talent for character and story.
In her extraordinary career, spanning over fifty years, Ita Buttrose has been involved in every aspect of the media, from newspapers and magazines to television and radio and now, electronic publishing. Starting as a copygirl on The Australian Women's Weekly, by the age of sixteen her journalism career was well underway when she was granted a cadetship on the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs. In Starting Out Ita describes discovering her love of journalism and publishing, how she overcame the challenge of being a woman in the workplace in the fifties and sixties, and the excitement of seeing her first byline in print. Starting Out is an engaging and insightful account of the early days of Ita Buttrose's career, depicting events that have shaped one of Australia's most prominent and distinguished women.
Rhonda Hetzel feels passionately that living simply leads to a richer, more fulfilling existence. Having made the decision to live frugally, embrace sustainability and opt out of the capitalist consumerist mindset, she set about working out how to achieve her goal, learning traditional skills, reducing her spending and environmental impact and focusing on the simple things that make life worth living: family, friends, and a home-cooked meal. This is the story of her journey and the lessons she has learned along the way. Rhonda relates why she wanted to change her lifestyle, what simple living means to her, and offers guidance to those thinking about taking the same path.
Liam Pieper's made some poor life choices, but he's (usually) meant well. He's tried to write important stories, fight racial prejudice and rescue traumatised puppies. And he's ended up with life-threatening infestations, a punch in the face at a Leonard Cohen concert and brief detention by counter-terrorism experts. Taking us from Nimbin to US border security to the star-studded Chateau Marmont in LA, these four essays are compelling, insightful and very funny. Mistakes Were Made is about the gap between our ideals in life – of love, compassion, ambition – and how things actually play out. 'His writing is electric: charged with meaning and energised by surprising comedic turns.' Weekend Australian 'Charming and amusing.' Sunday Age 'The ability to laugh at yourself is arguably the most valuable quality you can cultivate as a writer, and Liam Pieper has it in spades . . . he does hilarious self-deprecation with considerable panache.' Sydney Morning Herald
The former leader of the Australian Greens, Bob Brown has long been one of Australia's most influential and admired environmental thinkers. Here he outlines the importance of a global, humane approach to the issue of overpopulation. At once compassionate, intelligent and straightforward, this is a valuable and significant extract from Brown's memoir, Memo for a Saner World.
“McGonigal is a clear, methodical writer, and her ideas are well argued. Assertions are backed by countless psychological studies.” —The Boston Globe “Powerful and provocative . . . McGonigal makes a persuasive case that games have a lot to teach us about how to make our lives, and the world, better.” —San Jose Mercury News “Jane McGonigal's insights have the elegant, compact, deadly simplicity of plutonium, and the same explosive force.” —Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother A visionary game designer reveals how we can harness the power of games to boost global happiness. With 174 million gamers in the United States alone, we now live in a world where every generation will be a gamer generation. But why, Jane McGonigal asks, should games be used for escapist entertainment alone? In this groundbreaking book, she shows how we can leverage the power of games to fix what is wrong with the real world-from social problems like depression and obesity to global issues like poverty and climate change-and introduces us to cutting-edge games that are already changing the business, education, and nonprofit worlds. Written for gamers and non-gamers alike, Reality Is Broken shows that the future will belong to those who can understand, design, and play games. Jane McGonigal is also the author of SuperBetter: A Revolutionary Approach to Getting Stronger, Happier, Braver and More Resilient.
