'Paul Kelly is the ultimate insider: editor, journalist, historian, and commentator'. Scalmer and Dickenson investigate Kelly's roles and attempt to explain his relentless rise and what this story tells about politics and letters in contemporary Australia' (18)
'Devon was at home with his father when it happened, his father’s heart attack. They were having breakfast and then Roland’s eyes blinked and blinked as his mouth opened wide. He tumbled as he tried to find a hold on the kitchen bench. He hit the ground but he still looked as if he were falling on down through the floor. He lay with his back to the tiles, mouth open, working with soundless air. His legs moved spastically and his arms reached out for something as if still falling. They looked at each other in that moment with everything that was part of the complicated sum of Devon plus Roland Beckett.' (Introduction)
