{"title":"Rural Collection","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"quarterly-essay-42-paperback","title":"Fair Share; QE42 by Judith Brett","description":"\u003cp\u003eOnce the country believed itself to be the true face of Australia: sunburnt men and capable women raising crops and children, enduring isolation and a fickle environment, carrying the nation on their sturdy backs. For almost 200 years after white settlement began, city Australia needed the country: to feed it, to earn its export income, to fill the empty land, to provide it with distinctive images of the nation being built in the great south land. But Australia no longer rides on the sheep’s back, and since the 1980s, when “economic rationalism” became the new creed, the country has felt abandoned, its contribution to the nation dismissed, its historic purpose forgotten.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eFair Share\u003c\/em\u003e, Judith Brett argues that our federation was built on the idea of a big country and a fair share, no matter where one lived. We also looked to the bush for our legends and we still look to it for our food. These are not things we can just abandon. In late 2010, with the country independents deciding who would form federal government, it seemed that rural and regional Australia’s time had come again. But, as Murray-Darling water reform shows, the politics of dependence are complicated. The question remains: what will be the fate of the country in an era of user-pays, water cutbacks, climate change, droughts and flooding rains? What are the prospects for a new compact between country and city in Australia in the twenty-first century?\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCorrespondence discussing Quarterly Essay 42, \u003cem\u003eFair Share\u003c\/em\u003e:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cul\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.quarterlyessay.com.au\/correspondence\/correspondence-eric-knight-0\"\u003eEric Knight\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.quarterlyessay.com.au\/correspondence\/correspondence-jon-altman\"\u003eJon Altman\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.quarterlyessay.com.au\/correspondence\/correspondence-linda-botterill\"\u003eLinda Botterill\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\r\n","brand":"QE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39460766777479,"sku":"9781863955263-POD","price":29.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0313\/7211\/6103\/products\/qe42_5135eef7-fa13-49cf-bf17-974806c3f01b.jpg?v=1625796654"},{"product_id":"quarterly-essay-77-paperback","title":"Cry Me a River; QE77 by Margaret Simons","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Murray–Darling Basin is the food bowl of Australia, and it’s in trouble. What does this mean for the future – for water and crops, and for the people and towns that depend on it?\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eCry Me a River\u003c\/em\u003e, acclaimed journalist Margaret Simons takes a trip through the Basin, all the way from Queensland to South Australia. She shows that its plight is environmental but also economic, and enmeshed in ideology and identity. \u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eHer essay is both a portrait of the Murray–Darling Basin and an explanation of its woes. It looks at rural Australia and the failure of politics over decades to meet the needs of communities forced to bear the heaviest burden of change. Whether it is fish kills or state rivalries, drought or climate change, in the Basin our ability to plan for the future is being put to the test.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e“The story of the Murray–Darling Basin … is a story of our nation, the things that join and divide us. It asks whether our current systems – our society and its communities – can possibly meet the needs of the nation and the certainty of change. Is the Plan an honest compact, and is it fair? Can it work? Are our politics up to the task?”—Margaret Simons, \u003cem\u003eCry Me a River\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCorrespondence discussing Quarterly Essay 77, \u003ci\u003eCry Me a River\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cul\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.quarterlyessay.com.au\/correspondence\/correspondence-maryanne-slattery\"\u003eMaryanne Slattery\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.quarterlyessay.com.au\/correspondence\/correspondence-mike-young\"\u003eMike Young\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\t\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.quarterlyessay.com.au\/correspondence\/correspondence-stuart-bunn\"\u003eStuart Bunn\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\r\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\r\n","brand":"QE","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39460768219271,"sku":"9781760642280","price":29.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0313\/7211\/6103\/products\/qe77_cry_me_a_river_online_2_17f7872b-e22a-4d91-bb69-7d7701b96342.jpg?v=1625796804"},{"product_id":"on-bunyahpaperback","title":"On Bunyah by Les Murray","description":"\u003cp\u003e“Murray is … brash but also breathtakingly brilliant and often both at once” — The Australian\u003c\/p\u003e \n\n \u003cp\u003eBunyah has been my refuge and home place all my life. This book concentrates on the smallest habitats of community, the scattered village and the lone house, where space makes the isolated dwelling into an illusory distant city ruled by its family and their laws.\u003c\/p\u003e \n\n\u003cp\u003eThis updated edition of  On Bunyah  tells a story of rural Australia in verse and photographs. From blood and fenceposts to broad beans and milk lorries, Les Murray evokes the life and landscape of his part of the country.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Black Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39619592618119,"sku":"9781863959032","price":32.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0313\/7211\/6103\/products\/On_20Bunyah_20PB_20_28online_29.jpg?v=1636455098"},{"product_id":"outback-penguin-richard-lanes-barwell-diarieshardback","title":"Outback Penguin","description":"\u003cp\u003eRichard Lane was one of three brothers who founded Penguin Books in 1935. 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But Irene quickly grows restless. Bored to her back teeth, she is scornful of her dutiful husband, heedless of her children. She wants adventure, to experience whatever is on offer: men, travel, culture. As Irene and Rex raise children and crops, the tension between them builds and builds …\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nKate Jennings’s black humour and pared-back prose, at once understated and rich in startling imagery, resonate long after the final unnerving chapter. Set in an irrigation area – barren soil blessed by water – \u003ci\u003eSnake\u003c\/i\u003e is a modern classic.\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n‘The work of a powerful imagination.’ —Carol Shields, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n‘Irresistibly good.’ —Shirley Hazzard\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n‘A taut, poignant story. That she makes your heart ache for both her protagonists is a testimony to her artistry.’ \u003ci\u003e—The Sunday Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n‘How often do you find a book that seizes you and doesn’t let go until it has finished its assault? \u003ci\u003eSnake\u003c\/i\u003e does that, quite painfully and beautifully.’ \u003ci\u003e—Australian Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n‘This snake of a novel is lethal and fast-moving – and so spare it will leave readers wishing for more.’ \u003ci\u003e—Publishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n‘It’s hard to believe a full-blown family tragedy can be told so wholly and well in such small, deft snatches, but then rarely has a poet’s skill at compaction been put to better use in prose. 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When Sam returns to the family farm to help out, his life takes a new and unexpected direction.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eWhether castrating a calf or buying a bull – or knocking in a hundred fence posts by hand when his dad hides the post-driver – Sam's farming apprenticeship is an education in grit and shit. But there are victories, too: nurturing a fig orchard to bloom; learning to read the land; joining forces with Indigenous elders to protect a special site. Slowly, Sam finds himself thinking differently about the farm, about his father and about his relationship with both.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eBy turns affecting, hilarious and utterly surprising, this memoir melds humour and fierce honesty in an unsentimental love letter. It's about belonging, humility and regeneration – of land, family and culture. What passes from father to son on this unruly patch of earth is more than a livelihood; it is a legacy.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e2022 Grattan Institute Prime Minister's Summer Reading List \u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e'For any reader desiring to understand contemporary rural Australia, this entertaining and important book is a must-read ... Refreshingly honest, acutely observed, witty, lyrical and delightfully ironic, My Father and Other Animals is a pure delight.' — Charles Massy, author of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eCall of the Reed Warbler\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e'At once a rollicking comic memoir and a thoughtful meditation on Australian farming,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy Father and Other Animals\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis a warm, surprising and beautifully crafted book.' — Billy Griffiths, author of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eDeep Time Dreaming\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e'Bloody hilarious and salt-of-the-earth heartwarming,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eMy Father and Other Animals\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis an absolute treasure of a book.' Anna Krien, author of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eAct of Grace\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Black Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40422235373703,"sku":"9781760644840","price":29.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0313\/7211\/6103\/products\/MyFatherandOtherAnimalsB_online.jpg?v=1678060526"},{"product_id":"taller-when-prone-by-les-murray","title":"Taller When Prone by Les Murray","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eTaller When Prone\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is Les Murray's first volume of new poems since 2006's \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Biplane\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eHouses\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. With characteristic grace and dexterity, these poems combine a mastery of form with a matchless ear for the Australian vernacular. Many evoke rural life - its rhythms and rituals, the natural world, the landscape and the people who have shaped it. There are traveller's tales, elegies, meditative fragments and satirical sketches. Above all there is Murray's astonishing versatility, on display here at its exhilarating best.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'There is no poetry in the English language now so rooted in its sacredness, so broad-leafed in its pleasures and yet so intimate and conversational.' - Derek Walcott\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'He is, quite simply, the one by whom the language lives.' - Joseph Brodsky\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Black Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42029757563015,"sku":"9781863954709","price":32.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0313\/7211\/6103\/files\/TallerWhenProne_cover.jpg?v=1730429579"},{"product_id":"the-immigrants-preorder","title":"The Immigrants by Moreno Giovannoni","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"form-group col-lg-12 col-md-12 paddeql nomargin\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"book-detail-text-formating\"\u003eA story of love, dreams, exile and tragedy, told with heartbreaking beauty\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"form-group col-lg-12 col-md-12 paddeql nomargin\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"book-detail-text-formating\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"form-group col-lg-12 col-md-12 paddeql nomargin\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"book-detail-text-formating\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003e'Although if they are asked before they die, they all say they came here for a better life, they do not always find a better life, do they?'\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the Victorian town of Mitrefò, tobacco is grown, an Italian cinema and café open, and people travel back and forth from Italy. A boy fishes, wanders the countryside and watches a community form, with its joys, scandals and shared understandings. Interspersed are the 'grotesques' – indelible and terrible events that sit alongside the better future they all seek.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Immigrants\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Moreno Giovannoni depicts a family as they build a new life in a strange land. Through love and exile, industry and tragedy, their unspoken dreams and fears unfold in this astonishing and moving book.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePraise for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Fireflies of Autumn\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'I can't remember ever reading anything quite like it. It thrilled me, and made me laugh, and moved me very deeply.' —Helen Garner\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'There is immense beauty in this book, and there is great sadness and there is genuine tenderness. I can't recall when I was last thrilled by a book as I am by this one.' —Christos Tsiolkas\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e'I have never read a migrant tale so original, so breathtaking in scope, or so magical.' —Alice Pung\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Black Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42260612841607,"sku":"9781760645267","price":36.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0313\/7211\/6103\/files\/TheImmigrants_online.jpg?v=1736900533"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.schwartzbooks.com.au\/collections\/rural-collection.oembed","provider":"Schwartz Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}