AustLit logo
y separately published work icon The Penguin Century of Australian Stories anthology   short story  
Issue Details: First known date: 2000... 2000 The Penguin Century of Australian Stories
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Contents

* Contents derived from the Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,:Viking , 2000 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Introduction to The Penguin Century of Australian Stories, Kerryn Goldsworthy , single work criticism (p. xv - xxvii)
A Snake Down Under, Glenda Adams , single work short story (p. 1-3)
Miss Aminta Wirraway and the Sin of Lust, Ethel Anderson , single work short story humour (p. 4-11)
Under the House, Jessica Anderson , single work short story (p. 12-23)
Petals from Blown Roses, Thea Astley , single work short story (p. 24-34)
A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N,O,P,Q,R,S,T,U,V,W,X,Y,Z, Murray Bail , single work short story (p. 35-41)
The Powerful Owl, Candida Baker , single work short story (p. 42-50)
The Persimmon Tree, Marjorie Barnard , single work short story (p. 51-54)
Squeaker's Mate, Barbara Baynton , single work short story (p. 55-68)
Country Girl Again, Jean Bedford , single work short story (p. 69-74)
The Golden Moment, Carmel Bird , single work short story

THE GOLDEN MOMENT The story of the golden moment is a story about suburban Australia in the nineteen fifties. The street in which the story takes place is often called ‘the golden mile’ because so many wealthy bankers and barristers and surgeons have for generations lived there in grandeur and comfort with their beautiful wives and happy families. Almost all of these families have very white skins indeed, and are by religion Christians (of the Protestant kind). The rare Jewish or Roman Catholic family is treated with superb tolerance and charity, but it is understood that such families are darkened by a blight too powerful and mysterious to name.

The houses themselves bear the names they were given by the original inhabitants and some of these names reflect a nostalgia for places far away, others expressing a hope in the youthful country of Australia. The style of architecture is labelled ‘Federation’ in recognition of the modern birth of the country itself. The trees and flowers are by and large European, and the branches of the oaks and elms that line the street on one side almost touch those on the other, so that in summer a magical green tunnel arches above the traffic, and people from less beautiful suburbs drive along here just to marvel at the trees along the golden mile. Even ordinary traffic seems to move sedately along the grandest section of the road.

A golden moment is that time of the afternoon photographers love, when the light of day bathes the world in one last glow of radiance, when Paradise is promised, when everything stands still at the instant between the darkness and the light, when fairies and goblins and other spirits good and bad may be revealed.
The golden moment on the golden mile is one of nature’s marvels.

(Source: author's website)

(p. 75-82)
Note:

With title: The Golden Moment (1990)

Link to copy of story published on author's website.

The Turtles' Graveyard, James Bradley , single work short story (p. 83-89)
John Gilbert's Dog, David Brooks , single work short story (p. 90-93)
Children Aren't Supposed To Be Here at All, John Bryson , single work short story (p. 94-104)
The Cruelty of Mermaids, Janine Burke , single work short story humour (p. 105-112)
Sodasi, Keith Butler , single work short story (p. 113-119)
Arriving in Melbourne, Ada Cambridge , extract autobiography (p. 120-124)
The Last Days of a Famous Mime, Peter Carey , single work short story (p. 125-128)
Dust, Gavin Casey , single work short story (p. 129-132)
Sonatina, Brian Castro , single work short story (p. 133-140)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Ringwood, Ringwood - Croydon - Kilsyth area, Melbourne - East, Melbourne, Victoria,: Viking , 2000 .
      Extent: xxxiii, 733p.p.
      ISBN: 0670892335

Works about this Work

[Review] The Penguin Century of Australian Stories Van Ikin , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , no. 68 2001; (p. 182-183) JAS Review of Books , no. 1 2001;

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story
[Review] The Penguin Century of Australian Stories Matthew Wood , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 14 no. 3 2000; (p. 32-33)

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story
Century of Story Katharine England , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 15 April 2000; (p. 20)

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story
Tales You Win Anthony Macris , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 18 April vol. 118 no. 6220 2000; (p. 118)

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story
Omnibus Had Room for More David Matthews , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25-26 March 2000; (p. 11)

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story
[Review] The Penguin Century of Australian Stories Matthew Wood , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 14 no. 3 2000; (p. 32-33)

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story
CoverNotes Michelle Griffin , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 26 March 2000; (p. 11)

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story ; Fetish Tara Moss , 1999 single work novel
Omnibus Had Room for More David Matthews , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25-26 March 2000; (p. 11)

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story
Tales You Win Anthony Macris , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 18 April vol. 118 no. 6220 2000; (p. 118)

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story
Century of Story Katharine England , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 15 April 2000; (p. 20)

— Review of The Penguin Century of Australian Stories 2000 anthology short story
A Century of Australian Stories Christopher Bantick , 2000 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 18 March 2000; (p. 22)
[Review] The Penguin Century of Australian Stories Sian Prior (interviewer), 2000 single work criticism biography interview
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 220 2000; (p. 42-44)
Last amended 26 Mar 2003 09:35:52
X