AustLit
Latest Issues
Contents
- The Best Australian Stories 2002 : Introduction, single work criticism (p. vii-xviii)
- The Dying Words of the Archangel (from The Name on the Fence, a work-in-progress), extract novella (p. 1-13)
- Reading 'Madame Bovary', extract short story (p. 14-39)
- Men Like Beattie, single work short story (p. 40-48)
- Chemotherapy Bay, single work short story (p. 49-61)
- Anchorage, single work short story (p. 62-74)
- The New Dark Age, single work short story (p. 75-90)
- The Origin of Nightmares (from a work-in-progress), extract novel (p. 91-100)
- The Humanities in Africa, single work short story (p. 101-119)
- The Boy's Name Was David, single work short story (p. 120-134)
- The Institute of Feasibility: Some Minutes of Construction and Analysis, single work short story (p. 135-145)
-
Literary Criticism and the Second Law of Thermodynamics,
single work
short story
(p. 146-152)An English literature class discusses John Updike's short story 'Separation'. The class tutor responds to the text in a personal and subjective manner (to the dismay of all but one of his students).
- Ectopic, single work short story (p. 153-156)
- Christ Stopped at Echuca, single work short story humour (p. 157-175)
- Act Fifteen, single work short story (p. 176-185)
-
The Intimacy of the Table
Kenneth Slessor : The Intimacy of the Table,
single work
short story
(p. 186-197)
Note: Very slightly revised version.
- The She-Wolf, single work short story (p. 198-214)
-
Faith , Hope and Charity,
single work
short story
(p. 215-226)
The narrator relates his childhood with his oldest sister, Dawn, who has Down syndrome. He describes how after Dawn - at their mother's insistence - underwent a surgery to remove her uterus, they went on a beach holiday. Dawn and the narrator, out from under their mother's thumb for once, learn to fish with the help of Captain Hodge, who Dawn falls in love with. When the holiday is over, Captain Hodge asks the narrator for help; the narrator gives Dawn the message that Captain Hodge is married and so cannot marry her. Now a middle-aged man with his own family, the narrator remembers that what he told Dawn was a lie.
- You Can Be Us, single work short story (p. 227-234)
-
The Enemies of Happiness,
single work
short story
(p. 235-252)
New art teacher Karen arrives at Prospect Secondary College, a school gaining attention for its miraculous turnaround of drug and suicide rates. She teaches the Integration art class, finding pleasure in working with the students with disabilities. However, she eventually discovers that said disabilities are self-inflicted, with a special school fund paying for the operations. Prospect's principal, Dr Best, argues these amputations and alterations are better than the suicides the students threaten to commit otherwise.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Australian Books in Brief
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 21 February no. 5212 2003; (p. 31)
— Review of The Best Australian Stories 2002 2002 anthology short story'Peter Craven’s third annual anthology of “best” Australian stories contains a mixture of twenty-four stand-alone stories and extracts from longer works-in-progress. It is clear that the purpose-built short fiction better exemplifies the skills of crafty concision. The book signals a welcome revival of aspects of the Lawson-Furphy tradition of masculine folk narrative adapted for the postmodern metropolis. Jack Hibberd’s “Christ Stopped at Echuca” takes the tall tale on extravagant parodic flights but is rather too long. Brian Matthews jousts with versions of traditional Australian masculinity in the setting of a university tutorial. The grafting of literary sophistication onto masculine oral culture takes a witty turn also in Gerald Murnane’s mannered tale of a creative-writing teacher’s recognition that his assessment methods are derived from those used in horse racing.' (Introduction)
-
The Year in Many Voices
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 21 December 2002; (p. 8)
— Review of The Best Australian Essays 2002 2002 anthology essay biography review criticism autobiography ; The Best Australian Stories 2002 2002 anthology short story -
Better Than Waiting-Room Fare
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 14 December 2002; (p. 16)
— Review of The Best Australian Stories 2002 2002 anthology short story
-
Better Than Waiting-Room Fare
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 14 December 2002; (p. 16)
— Review of The Best Australian Stories 2002 2002 anthology short story -
The Year in Many Voices
2002
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 21 December 2002; (p. 8)
— Review of The Best Australian Essays 2002 2002 anthology essay biography review criticism autobiography ; The Best Australian Stories 2002 2002 anthology short story -
Australian Books in Brief
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 21 February no. 5212 2003; (p. 31)
— Review of The Best Australian Stories 2002 2002 anthology short story'Peter Craven’s third annual anthology of “best” Australian stories contains a mixture of twenty-four stand-alone stories and extracts from longer works-in-progress. It is clear that the purpose-built short fiction better exemplifies the skills of crafty concision. The book signals a welcome revival of aspects of the Lawson-Furphy tradition of masculine folk narrative adapted for the postmodern metropolis. Jack Hibberd’s “Christ Stopped at Echuca” takes the tall tale on extravagant parodic flights but is rather too long. Brian Matthews jousts with versions of traditional Australian masculinity in the setting of a university tutorial. The grafting of literary sophistication onto masculine oral culture takes a witty turn also in Gerald Murnane’s mannered tale of a creative-writing teacher’s recognition that his assessment methods are derived from those used in horse racing.' (Introduction)
