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  • Published: 26 June 2013
  • ISBN: 9781742537450
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 256
Categories:

The Local Wildlife



Tall tales from Australia's master of the short story - but this time these short, short stories are true.

Welcome to the Northern Rivers, where the 'local wildlife' can refer to more than just the exotic native fauna. After a decade spent in this picturesque corner of Australia, home of chocolate-coated women, pythons in the ceiling, online Russian brides, deadly paralysis ticks, and the mysterious Mullumbimby Monster, Robert Drewe wiped the green zinc cream from his face and set down some of the unusual wildlife experiences that the far north coast of New South Wales - home of the world's greatest variety of ants - has to offer.

Drewe's trademark gentle wit, acute observational powers and mastery of the English language are all on display in this collection of sketches and anecdotes based on the quirkiness of daily life. His sharp eye for human foibles - including his own - is tempered with a generosity of spirit.

Tall tales from Australia's master of the short story - but this time these short, short stories are true.

'Excuse me, mate,' he asked the fluorescently green, bespectacled, half-submerged man, who was trying to put pen to paper while sitting in water, flicking ants off his work, and wincing as he shifted his buttock position. 'Is that how writers do writing?'

'Yep.' I frowned verdantly over my glasses. 'It's a very complicated job.'

'… for brilliant description, lively simile … and a gift for drama and narrative, Drewe is hard to match, and these small, apparently easy pieces have much in common with his more ambitious literary work.' Dennis Haskell, Review

  • Published: 26 June 2013
  • ISBN: 9781742537450
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 256
Categories:

About the author

Robert Drewe

Robert Drewe is the author of eight novels, four books of short stories, two plays, two memoirs and four other works of non-fiction. His work has been widely translated, won national and international prizes and been adapted for film, television, theatre and radio.

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