David Malouf's imagination inhabits shocking violence, quick humor, appealing warmth and harsh cruelty with equal intensity. This is a comprehensive compilation of David's shorter work. Stories are set in the hardscrabble Australian interior and coastal enclaves; others are set in Australia's past. The youthful dreams, physical desires and psychic despair of Malouf's richly varied characters are always moving and universal. Readers won't want to skim a single page of the 31 stories in this epic collection, a few of which are novella length. Together, they represent a quarter-century of a formidable craftsman's career.
