AustLit

'It’s a simple story, a journey, a search, a pursuit. There is a man from Perth, an American woman, their daughter. The woman is intent on creating chaos wherever she goes, through urban art, and her work extends to creating chaos in her own life by having a daughter. The man is intent on finding his daughter and in doing so finds himself and the songs inside him. It's a road trip novel, starting in Perth, Australia, and traversing America, Canada and Europe. It is also a meditation on art, creativity, success, growing up and taking responsibility.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'Greetings from is a collection of funny, perceptive travel essays spanning two decades and multiple continents. In these pages, Campbell experiences some of the fascinating contrasts our world has to offer: from the towering white apartment blocks of tourist haven Lanzarote to the rusted wastelands of the crumbling 'Baltic Riviera'; plains of lowa and the battlegrounds of New York's basketball courts; and the hidden bunkers of Berlin and, home at last, to Australia's epic expanses.' (Publication Summary)

'With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 went the culture and identity of millions of people. Through the story of Michael Smith, an Australian who moves to East Germany in 1981, a different side of communism is shown, a more positive side focusing on the people who live there, good people who have no ideological position. Michael marries an East Berliner and begins to raise a family. He further educates himself and becomes a teacher whereas he had been previously a mechanic. His life is fulfilling and satisfying; he succeeds in ways he could never have hoped to in Australia. The fall of the wall brings his happiness to a crashing halt, especially because he had supported the protest to reform but feared a selling-out to the West. For him, the unification is an end and not a beginning. He cannot reconcile that his happiness has been taken away from him by the West. His secret life as a Stasi (secret police) informer has him riddled with guilt. He uproots his family back to Australia, and to a much better life than the one he had left behind, but not nearly as satisfying as it had been in East Germany.' (Source: Author's blurb)

'How do you find a way to fit in when you don't really feel you belong? Hunter follows the stories of Eric, a teenage boy, and two men, one a Nazi from Austria and the other a Nazi from northern Germany. Eric has just moved from the country to the coastal town of Crescent Bay and has difficulty adjusting. To earn some money, he begins doing odd jobs for seniors and comes into contact with the two old men. Of Germany descent himself, Eric becomes fascinated by the men and the stories they tell. Are they Nazis? Should he contact the police? He discovers that one of the men has damning evidence against the other and he is forced to choose who to turn over to the police. Set during the Gulf War and with a backdrop of middle class Australian coastal life, Hunter is a coming of age story which poses some interesting questions about nationality, social acceptance, conformity and middle class suburban life in Australia.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'Two men go in search of the real Australia, and find it in a bar in Munich. But what will they do with it now they’ve found it? Australia. What comes to mind when you see or hear this word? Guys in khaki shorts jumping into crocodile infested waters. Long, white sand beaches. Shrimps on barbecues. Athletes and actors. "Really? Mel Gibson is Australian?" Surfer boys and pin-up girls. Cuddly koalas that aren't really bears. Come on. There has to be more to Australia than that. There is. Much more. True Blue Tucker is the story of Darius and Humphrey, two friends who go looking for the real Australia, a journey that takes them to Australia's north-west, Canada's ski hills, London's damp streets and Munich's bars. Along the way, they learn about themselves, about their country and about what the world thinks of Australians. Ambitiously and misguidedly, they set about changing the stereotype, by opening an Aussie bar in Munich that tells the real history of Australia. It's out with the inflatable crocodiles and in with information about stolen Aboriginal children; out with Paul Hogan and in with Pauline Hanson. And there's convict stew on the menu, and not kangaroo burgers.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)