AustLit

'‘Death is the great invigorator’ (21) writes the late Andrew McGahan in the first chapter of his last book, The Rich Man’s House. Racing against death in the final stages of pancreatic cancer, McGahan was composing a deathless tract which is not only ‘twice as long as most of [his] books’ (Steger 2019) but amplifies to epic proportions major motifs and interests from his earlier works, notably the opposition between man-made constructions and the forces of nature. Thus, the titular house he depicts is ‘the most expensive private residence in recent world history’ (77), built within a solid rock of Theodolite Isle and facing the Wheel, the highest mountain on Earth which rises 25 kilometres into the sky, ‘defying comprehension’ (87), piercing the stratosphere and generating its own extreme weather. Only one man has ever stood on top of the Wheel – Walter Richman, the owner of the extravagant house.' (Introduction)