'Throughout his forties and fifties Phillip Hall found himself in difficult circumstances: the grief for his baby son and younger brothers, suicide attempts, self-harming, the premature termination of his career, and the failure of religious belief to explain or console. In and out of psychiatric care, he has been treated for PTSD, severe depression and social anxiety. There are, of course, consolations: family, companion greyhounds, Sunshine, the Western Bulldogs and the AFL (M and W), books, the fine and performing arts. But, for Phillip, this remains a time of loss and despair. This is, therefore, a collection of lamentations, achingly focused on what it is to live with poor mental health, but it is also a defiant celebration of survival and the redeeming power of familial love, sport and the arts.'

Source : publisher's blurb