A Handwritten Modern Classic [Paperback]

Written in late 1977, this collection of musings and criticisms dwells on several topics, including protestors clashing with police over freeways, political change, conservatism, Malcolm Fraser, the effects of love, and whether the old hate the young. With discussions on the politics of suicide and unshaven armpits, this compilation also mentions famed writers—Socrates, Jane Austen, Coleridge, and Tolstoy—and the battles between romanticism and jingoism in Australian writing. Bringing up issues such as imperialism in language use, popularity in writing, and giving in to what the market wants from literary creation, it challenges readers and writers alike not to fall for a romantic view of the world. Both retro & cool,A Handwritten Modern Classicis a sprightly epistle to the world. Aphoristic, it is, abounding in double binds & double takes and ironic to a fault. Finola Moorhead's tour-de-force from 35 years ago is a delight to read again today. —Kris Hemensley,Collected Works

Finola Moorheadis a playwright, poet, and writer. She is the author of numerous books, includingDarkness More Visible,My Voice,Quilt,Remember the Tarantella, and the award-winning Still Murder. The first observation is that the imagination is how you do what you know. A person who says he is a writer and uses many words to say that imagination beats experience has no imagination, especially if he cannot toss a salad and lets his wife buy his clothes. It's edgy and different even though it was written 35 years ago. It's a handwritten artwork of a book and the politics and literary allusions still apply. It's collectible.