image of person or book cover 4121088076883623590.jpg
This image has been sourced from online.
y separately published work icon Camouflage selected work   short story  
Issue Details: First known date: 2000... 2000 Camouflage
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The brilliant title story Camouflage tells the story of Eric Banerjee, an Adelaide piano-tuner sent north to defend Australia in 1942. Accompanying it is one of Bail’s masterly pieces of short fiction, The Seduction of My Sister, a weird and compelling account of sibling rivalry and love.'

Source: Text Publishing.

Exhibitions

18388257
18387981

Contents

* Contents derived from the Melbourne, Victoria,:Text Publishing , 2000 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Camouflage, Murray Bail , single work short story (p. 1-39)
The Seduction of My Sister, Murray Bail , single work short story (p. 43-85)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Notes:
Also published in sound recording format
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Harvill Press ,
      2001 .
      image of person or book cover 4959643707928972938.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 85p.
      ISBN: 1860469027
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Where There's Smoke : Outstanding Short Stories by Australian Men Black Inc. (editor), Collingwood : Black Inc. , 2015 8700359 2015 anthology short story

    'Where There's Smoke presents outstanding short fiction by Australia's finest male writers. These are tales of love, secrets, doubt and torment, the everyday and the extraordinary.

    'A man sleeps at the site of a massacre and wakes refreshed. An unassuming piano tuner is sent off to contribute to the war effort. A woman with Alzheimer's is dragged along by her interfering son to visit Uluru.

    'Brilliant, shocking and profound, these tales will leave you reeling in ways that only a great short story can.

    'Chris Womersley Murray Bail Tim Winton Rodney Hall David Malouf Tony Birch Shane Maloney Ryan O'Neill Nam Le Kim Scott

    'and many more' (Publication summary)

    Collingwood : Black Inc. , 2015

Works about this Work

Twisting the Australian Realist Short Story : Murray Bail’s “Camouflage” Marie Herbillon , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Postcolonial Writing , vol. 54 no. 1 2017; (p. 83-94)

'Although the short story is regarded as a minor genre in many literary traditions, it is arguably a major one in Australian literature, which, more specifically, was long dominated by the realist short story. Deriving from the colonial “yarns”, the so-called “hard-luck stories” were indeed felt to be characterized by a realism that was in turn seen to result from the archetypal dryness of Australia itself. While the contemporary Australian writer Murray Bail has repeatedly questioned the realistic quality of his homeland’s literature, he has also sought to broaden the subgenre to which it has often been reduced, namely bush realism. With “Camouflage” (1998), Bail appropriates the hard-luck story to convey a marginal perspective. This article shows how this strategy of revision allows him to contest both the archetypality of bush realism and the stereotypical perceptions of the Australian landscape, thereby problematizing the highly controversial relationship between place and literature.'  (Publication abstract)

Beneath the Camouflage : Mimicry and Settler False Consciousness in the Fiction of Murray Bail Michael Ackland , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies , Fall vol. 17 no. 2 2011; (p. 72-89)
The Surreal Thing Daniel Zalewski , 2002 single work review
— Appears in: The New York Times Book Review , 4 August vol. 107 no. 31 2002; (p. 16)

— Review of Camouflage Murray Bail , 2000 selected work short story
Magic in the Suburbs Margaret Walters , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 7 December no. 5149 2001;

— Review of Camouflage Murray Bail , 2000 selected work short story
Slim and Dry, Never Creaky Brett D'Arcy , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 30 December 2000; (p. 8)

— Review of Camouflage Murray Bail , 2000 selected work short story
In Short : New Releases Debra Adelaide , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11 November 2000; (p. 14)

— Review of Another Man's Office Penelope Trevor , 2000 single work novel ; Camouflage Murray Bail , 2000 selected work short story
CoverNotes Mike Shuttleworth , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 26 November 2000; (p. 11)

— Review of Monsieur Frog Nikki Barrowclough , 2000 single work novel ; Camouflage Murray Bail , 2000 selected work short story ; Holtermann's Nugget Gunter Schaule , 2000 single work novel ; Nude 2000 single work children's fiction
Slim and Dry, Never Creaky Brett D'Arcy , 2000 single work review
— Appears in: The West Australian , 30 December 2000; (p. 8)

— Review of Camouflage Murray Bail , 2000 selected work short story
Magic in the Suburbs Margaret Walters , 2001 single work review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 7 December no. 5149 2001;

— Review of Camouflage Murray Bail , 2000 selected work short story
The Surreal Thing Daniel Zalewski , 2002 single work review
— Appears in: The New York Times Book Review , 4 August vol. 107 no. 31 2002; (p. 16)

— Review of Camouflage Murray Bail , 2000 selected work short story
Beneath the Camouflage : Mimicry and Settler False Consciousness in the Fiction of Murray Bail Michael Ackland , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies , Fall vol. 17 no. 2 2011; (p. 72-89)
Twisting the Australian Realist Short Story : Murray Bail’s “Camouflage” Marie Herbillon , 2017 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Postcolonial Writing , vol. 54 no. 1 2017; (p. 83-94)

'Although the short story is regarded as a minor genre in many literary traditions, it is arguably a major one in Australian literature, which, more specifically, was long dominated by the realist short story. Deriving from the colonial “yarns”, the so-called “hard-luck stories” were indeed felt to be characterized by a realism that was in turn seen to result from the archetypal dryness of Australia itself. While the contemporary Australian writer Murray Bail has repeatedly questioned the realistic quality of his homeland’s literature, he has also sought to broaden the subgenre to which it has often been reduced, namely bush realism. With “Camouflage” (1998), Bail appropriates the hard-luck story to convey a marginal perspective. This article shows how this strategy of revision allows him to contest both the archetypality of bush realism and the stereotypical perceptions of the Australian landscape, thereby problematizing the highly controversial relationship between place and literature.'  (Publication abstract)

Last amended 4 Dec 2019 12:00:56
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