PublishedNewsouth Publishing, July 2019 |
ISBN9781742236315 |
FormatSoftcover, 368 pages |
Dimensions21cm × 13.5cm |
'Ben Stubbs uncovers the sheer delight and surprise of discovering what's in your own backyard.' - Bob Byrne, author of Adelaide Remember When and Australia Remember When
Outsiders think
of South Australia as being different, without really knowing much about it. Combining
his own travel across the million-square kilometres of the state with an
investigation of its history, Ben Stubbs seeks to find out what South Australia
is really like.
In the spirit of
the best travel writing and literary non-fiction, he lingers in places of quiet
beauty and meets some memorable people. Along the way he debunks most of the
cliches that plague the state. Travelling to Maralinga, Ceduna, Kangaroo
Island, the Flinders Ranges, Coober Pedy, the storied Adelaide suburb of
Elizabeth and the once-mighty river that is the Murray, Stubbs brings this
diverse state to life. He even addresses head-on the question 'Is South
Australia weird?'
Readers will find it hard to
resist the book's implicit invitation to take a look at places much closer to
home, to take the time to drink in dramatic landscapes that are slow, deep and
speckled with unforgettable characters.
'Takes you where the silence is massive and the beauty unexpected.' - Christopher Kremmer
'Out beyond the vineyards and the festivals that everyone knows, Ben Stubbs finds tales of South Australia's beauties and dangers: great white sharks and megafauna fossils, opal mines and limestone caves, nuclear tests and murderous camels, 19th century settler towns and timeless Aboriginal stories.' - Kerryn Goldsworthy, author ofAdelaide
