Cirrus@Austlit

'A popular image of modern Greece is of glittering, blue seas dotted with islands of idyllic beauty. Another is of the ancient Acropolis towering above Athens, cradle of Western civilisation. But when I think of Greece, I also think of its violent and traumatic history, in particular the series of wars and conflicts throughout the first half of the 20th century that left the country in ruins.' (Introduction)

'Aftershocks is a collection of essays, review essays, book reviews and occasional pieces that covers the period from 1996-2018. The connecting thread of Aftershocks is the cultural and social transformations wrought by the series of 'shocks' that have occurred since the beginning of the new millennium: terrorism after 9/11, the triumph of capital, the impact of the digital revolution and the fluidity of identity.

'The collection explores how writers, artists, and society at large seem to be caught up in a series of aftershocks: no sooner has one wave hit than another is upon us. '

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'I was reluctant to try share house living again; being thrown out of the Abercrombie Street house had affected me more deeply than I thought. My room in the Harold Park Hotel wasn’t a viable option either. It wasn’t the quality of the room that was the problem. When I first went to check the place out I’d braced myself for pub squalor, but to my surprise the room had been recently refurbished, in cheap synthetic everything, it was true, but at least it was clean and new. But apart from the bed there was hardly any furniture, not even a bar fridge, and even though the weather was mild, the milk I bought for my cereal – which I was just about living on – curdled overnight. Also, the pub was next to one of Sydney’s major racetracks, and it was impossible to study over the booming PA. I’d sit at the floor at the end of the single bed, surrounded by piles of library books on topics ranging from the cinema of Luis Buñuel to intermediate French grammar, unable to block out the voices of the race commentators. These delivered near stream-of-consciousness monologues that built to frenzied climaxes made up of the winning horses’ names – Sea Peony, Rusted Sunset, Achilles – manically repeated over and over again.' (Introduction)

'Can a relationship survive a long-anticipated but disappointing world trip? Will a small-shopkeeper cope when pitted against an emerging mega-mall? How do we keep our sanity in the face of life’s obstacles – and when we don’t, what will pull it back again? Take a trip through the world’s greatest cities and into the mind’s darkest places. Anthony Macris’s new fiction – a novella and accompanying story cycle – deftly examines our fragile relationships with travel, art, money and, especially, each other.

'Inexperience includes award-winning work previously featured in publications such as Penguin’s Australian Writing Now and Picador New Writing. The collection refreshes and unites Macris’s early work with new writing from the perspective of the more mature and contemplative writer. In it, Macris’s innovative story-telling and subtle ironies show how the experiences that make or break us can also be the ones that tell us who we are. ' (Publication summary)

An extract from Anthony Macris's novel.

'When Anthony Macris' son was diagnosed with autism, he and his partner Kathy had two choices: do what they were told - and could afford - or do what they thought best. This is the tragic, joyful, instructive story of how they confronted the condition that changed their lives.

'Before the onset of autism, Alex was a vibrant, healthy little boy, Anthony and Kathy the happiest of parents. Afterwards Alex was struck mute, barely able to recognise them. From then on, all that mattered was finding the right treatment.

'But how to do this, for a disorder with no known cause and no cure? Eventually Anthony and Kathy decided to take control of their son's therapy themselves, turning every aspect of their lives around in the process. It took a long time, but the radiance did return to Alex's face. By then he was a completely different person, and so were his parents.

'When Horse Became Saw is an extraordinary account of Alex's regression and his family's search for answers, an invaluable guide through the obstacles and decisions faced by anyone in their situation. It beautifully paints the emotional world of a father who finds himself in the strange country of autism - and something of a stranger in his own country, whose government refused to fund the therapy his son so desperately needed.

'Above all it enriches our understanding of those who are profoundly different yet have so much to give.' (From the publisher's website.)