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'The unnamed narrator of this wry and witty satire by Australian Aborigine novelist Mudrooroo ( Master of the Ghost Dreaming ) is an avaricious businessman, a failed politician and a bungling diplomat-cum-spy. Reduced to a clerk's job in Canberra, he sees everyone as conspiring against him. When a writer, gathering information for a biography of Aborigine detective Dr. Watson Holmes Jackamara, comes to interview him, the narrator can't resist pouring out the story of his life and the plots against him. After losing his bid for the legislature, he is sent to a tiny South Pacific island group about to gain its independence from Great Britain. His mission is to gather intelligence, to act as a counterweight to a no-nonsense businesswoman named Miss Tamada, whose Japanese corporation is making considerable inroads there, and to position Australia as the new power in the region. Unfortunately, things go awry from the beginning when the narrator fabricates a ridiculous cover story for his presence. To complicate matters further, he falls for the beautiful but depraved Carla, a member of the colony's rather barmy ruling family. This novel is a romp that disarmingly takes on the forces of neo-colonialism shaping the Pacific today. ' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication: I respectfully dedicate this book to the linguist, Mari Rhydwen, who helped me with obscure points of Australian/English usage. Any mistakes are mine. Thanks Mari for your kind and considerate help.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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The Black-White Man in Mudrooroo's The Kwinkan
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Frontier Skirmishes : Literary and Cultural Debates in Australia after 1992 2010; (p. 247-260) -
[Review] The Kwinkan
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: World Literature Today , Summer vol. 68 no. 3 1994; (p. 632-633)
— Review of The Kwinkan 1993 single work novel -
Rush Hour of the Spirit
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 134 1994; (p. 72-74)
— Review of King Bungaree : A Sydney Aborigine Meets the Great South Pacific Explorers, 1799-1830 1992 single work biography ; The Kwinkan 1993 single work novel ; The Mudrooroo/Muller Project : A Theatrical Casebook 1993 anthology drama poetry criticism -
Find the Plot
1993
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 29 May 1993; (p. wkd 6)
— Review of The Kwinkan 1993 single work novel -
Men Lose Their Nerve
1993
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 150 1993; (p. 11-12)
— Review of The Kwinkan 1993 single work novel
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Aboriginal Encounters
1993
single work
review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 20 August no. 4716 1993; (p. 4-5)
— Review of The Kadaitcha Sung 1990 single work novel ; The Kwinkan 1993 single work novel ; Paperbark : A Collection of Black Australian Writings 1990 anthology poetry drama short story criticism prose autobiography biography ; Writing from the Fringe : A Study of Modern Aboriginal Literature 1990 single work criticism -
Confronting the White Republic
1993
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 May 1993; (p. C10)
— Review of The Mudrooroo/Muller Project : A Theatrical Casebook 1993 anthology drama poetry criticism ; The Kwinkan 1993 single work novel -
Rush Hour of the Spirit
1994
single work
review
— Appears in: Overland , Autumn no. 134 1994; (p. 72-74)
— Review of King Bungaree : A Sydney Aborigine Meets the Great South Pacific Explorers, 1799-1830 1992 single work biography ; The Kwinkan 1993 single work novel ; The Mudrooroo/Muller Project : A Theatrical Casebook 1993 anthology drama poetry criticism -
Traveller's Tale Goes Astray
1993
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 12-13 June 1993; (p. rev 7)
— Review of Going Away 1993 single work novel ; The Kwinkan 1993 single work novel -
Forecasts
1993
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , March vol. 72 no. 1035 1993; (p. 31,33)
— Review of The Kwinkan 1993 single work novel -
The Black-White Man in Mudrooroo's The Kwinkan
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Frontier Skirmishes : Literary and Cultural Debates in Australia after 1992 2010; (p. 247-260) - y Mudrooroo : A Critical Study Pymble : Angus and Robertson , 1993 Z213563 1993 single work criticism
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It's the Quest Which Matters
Adam Shoemaker
(interviewer),
1993
single work
interview
— Appears in: Island , Winter no. 55 1993; (p. 38-44) -
Mudrooroo's Shadow Boxing
1993
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Island , Winter no. 55 1993; (p. 44-47)