Cirrus@Austlit

'I thought I knew water.

'I knew its salt sting, felt as I stood on a rocky tidal platform over the crashing Southern Ocean. I knew the hold-down weight of it, borne when I mistimed a wave. I knew its light: the blond-and-blue fractal patterns on the seabed on a sunny day at the beach. I knew about tides, wave forms, the way energy transmits.' (Introduction)

'Browsing through my local bookstore, I came across a book of literary locations: a guide to the places and spaces where classic and much-loved novels have been set. The idea, I think, was that the book could function as a tour guide, armchair or otherwise. Love Wuthering Heights? Then take a look at the Yorkshire Moors. And so on.' (Introduction)

'The other day someone told me one of those amazing German compound words: Waldeinsamkeit. It means the feeling of being alone in the forest, in a calm and peaceful way—communing with nature, if you like.'  (Introduction)

'It's funny to think that a broken gearbox could lead to a physics student folding T-shirts in my lounge room, but that’s the internet for you.'  (Introduction)

'The orchids flowered when I wasn’t looking.

'They were my grandfather-in-law’s, grown in a plastic pot in a corner of his garden up in the cold hills, where glossy rhododendrons sat studded with blooms like cloves on a baked apple, where the bay was a blue smudge far off in the landscape, and the old steam train ran once a Sunday along the tracks over the back fence, blowing wood-smoke and the cries of children into the yard.'

Source: Opening paragraph.

'What shapes the character of Melbourne, and from where does it get its x-factor? Jenny Sinclair goes in search of the answers and discovers that it’s all in our head – or at least our collective imagination.

'Much ado about Melbourne is a whimsical and absorbing survey of the city’s creativity, from Hoddle’s Grid to the cultural achievements that help put us it on the world map. Celebrating the stories, spirit and sensibilities that make this metropolis, it charts the evolution of Melbourne through its music, art, literature, film, stories, transport, maps and people.' (Publication summary)

'What makes Melbourne unique? And where does it get its x-factor? Journalist Jenny Sinclair goes in search of the answers and discovers that it's actually all in our head - or, more precisely, our collective imagination.

'When We Think about Melbourne is a wry and whimsical survey of our city's creativity. It observes with a keen and appreciative eye the changing physical, social and cultural landscape of Melbourne through its literature, music, art, maps, travel and transport.' (From the publisher's website.)