AustLit

'For a slim and mostly mild-mannered book, Belinda Probert’s Imaginative Possession provokes a multitude of thoughts and feelings. As I read it, I had an urge to talk back to Probert – to offer counter-views if not, exactly, to argue with her. But I also wanted to let the narrative wash over me, to enjoy its simple pleasures. In the end, I did some of each.' (Introduction)

'The first sentence in John Hughes’ novel The Dogs is lifted from his first book, a collection of autobiographical essays titled The Idea of Home (2004), though the recycled line is not quite verbatim.'  (Introduction)

'Here is my little hypothesis: People love to say that the problem with Australian literature is a lack of critical culture. It’s not. It’s that people don’t read Australian literature, and then they lie about it online. Every day I open Instagram and think, it is so brave of you to post a picture of that book you haven’t read. Someone could ask you a single question about it and the whole house of cards would come down. But nobody will, because they haven’t read it either.'  (Introduction)

'Early in Brendan Cowell’s latest novel, Plum, the scales fall from the eyes of his protagonist, a 49-year-old ex-rugby league player named Peter Lum.'