Issue Details: First known date: 1994... 1994 When a Monkey Speaks and Other Stories from Australia
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Damian Sharp's rich, hypnotic stories explore the harsh, but often beautiful and mystifying, effects of the Australian bush on those who live there. With a gift for evoking this rough scrub country, Sharp transports the reader into the land of relentless sun, red sand deserts, and rushing muddy rivers of his own youth. His characters inhabit this rugged landscape graced by kangaroos, screeching cockatoos, ants that derail trains, and great goannas. Admirably bold, and blindly determined, these men and women confront themselves as they struggle to deal with issues of race, desire, family, and destiny. Larger than life, yet dwarfed by their dramatic surroundings, they are people whose passionate lives are punctuated by reckless acts of violence and of love. Ena, angrily inhabiting the faded rooms of an abandoned farmhouse, is visited by the persistent ghosts of her many departed lovers. A young boy befriends his father's hired band and learns the violent secret of the aborigine's rite of passage. Two quarrelsome traveling companions wrestle with love and infidelity while crossing the Simpson Desert. An American woman, sent in to investigate a suspected Nazi, has a mystifying encounter in the bush. A father and son test the limits of a strained relationship shadowed by an unspoken past. In a dusty shantytown an old woman lies dying, and Alan Bedford, witness for his father, finally learns the tale of the legendary Big Flo and the Flying Kangaroo. (Libraries Australia record).

Notes

  • Dedication: This book is dedicated to Jan Sharp and Phillip Noyce, Alice Lodge, Lucia Noyce, Lucas Benjamin Sharp, Fong Chong, and to the memory of Dorothea Oppenheimer.

Contents

* Contents derived from the San Francisco, California,
c
United States of America (USA),
c
Americas,
:
HarperCollins West , 1994 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Ena Waiting, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 1-14)
A Native Son, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 15-25)
When a Monkey Speaks, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 26-50)
The Defeat of Big Flo, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 51-78)
The Garden, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 79-87)
Boxing, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 88-124)
The Interview, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 125-145)
Mastering the Inner Leap, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 146-161)
Carter's Creek, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 162-187)
The Reign of Frogs, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 188-192)
The Quiet Murmur of the River, Damian Sharp , single work short story (p. 193-213)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Ghost Tales Good and Bad Jennifer Cooke , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 3 September 1994; (p. 12A)

— Review of When a Monkey Speaks and Other Stories from Australia Damian Sharp , 1994 selected work short story
Artistic Despair of Young at Heart Matthew Condon , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10-11 September 1994; (p. rev 5)

— Review of Wilful Blue Sonya Hartnett , 1994 single work novel ; When a Monkey Speaks and Other Stories from Australia Damian Sharp , 1994 selected work short story
Artistic Despair of Young at Heart Matthew Condon , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 10-11 September 1994; (p. rev 5)

— Review of Wilful Blue Sonya Hartnett , 1994 single work novel ; When a Monkey Speaks and Other Stories from Australia Damian Sharp , 1994 selected work short story
Ghost Tales Good and Bad Jennifer Cooke , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 3 September 1994; (p. 12A)

— Review of When a Monkey Speaks and Other Stories from Australia Damian Sharp , 1994 selected work short story
Last amended 5 Nov 2007 16:54:52
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