Penguin Books Australia

'I wanted to showcase those subjects which thoughtful and talented Australian writers were absorbed by in this particular year; indeed (I thought), wouldn't it be good to show what this country, and its culture, was about in 2010?'—Robert Drewe

This year's Best Australian Essays offers riveting snapshots of the nation's 'current loves and angers, its art and myths and amusements and gender concerns – and its propensity for bushfires.' From Alex Miller on the creative imagination to Mark Dapin on crime myths, from Amanda Hooton on Miss Universe to Tim Flannery on the inner lives of animals, this is a collection that takes the pulse of the nation's writers and thinkers and finds them in rude health. A deeply satisfying collection for that long summer read.

Clive James Peter Porter
Christine Kenneally The Fires
Shane Maloney Rudd's End
David Marr White's London
Mark Dapin Crime Myths of Australia
Andrew Sant Marriage
Guy Rundle Official Culture
Peter Conrad The Minogue Sisters
Jo Lennan Botany
Tim Flannery Humans and Animals
Maureen O'Shaughnessy An Addict's Journey
Ian Henderson Freud and the Cultural Cringe
Amanda Hooton Miss Universe
Anne Manne The Girl in the Room
Elizabeth Farrelly The Problem with Equality
David Brooks The Smoking Vegetarian
Sunil Badami Westies
Les Murray Our Dictionary
Janet Hawley Charles & Barbara Blackman
David Malouf In Praise of the States
Shelley Gare Secret Women's Business
Paul McGeough Gaza Flotilla
Murray Bail School Days
Kathy Marks The Mining Boom
Alex Miller Awakening the Imagination
Melissa Lucashenko A High-school Death
Lorna Hallahan On Being Odd
Pauline Nguyen Fish Sauce Memories
Carmel Bird Omens
Nicolas Rothwell Indigenous Magic
Robert Manne Asylum Seekers
Sarah Drummond A Pub in the Pilbara
Gerard Windsor Visiting the Cemetery