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Hunting the Wild Pineapple

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Hunting the Wild Pineapple

By: Thea Astley
Narrated by: James Wright
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About this listen

 Leverson, the narrator at the centre of these stories, calls himself a 'people freak'. Seduced by north Queensland's sultry beauty and unique strangeness, he is as fascinated by the invading hordes of misfits from the south as by the old established Queenslanders. Leverson's ironical yet compassionate view makes every story, every incident, a pointed example of human weakness - or strength.©1979 Thea Astley. By arrangement with Penguin Group (Australia). (P)1999 Bolinda Publishing Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Editor reviews

Imagine James Joyce’s Dubliners displaced to the tropical milieu of North Queensland and narrated by a wry, painfully self-aware and keenly perceptive middle-aged "monopod" failure named Leverson and you’ll come close award-winning Australian author Thea Astley’s superb collection of short stories, originally released in 1979, that run the gamut of human emotion and experience in its depiction of a varied cast of island denizens.

James Wright’s soulful performance masterfully captures the subtle undercurrent of optimism and warmth that runs through Leverson’s acerbic observations as well as the mosaic of Australian cadences and eccentric personalities that populate Astley's wonderfully realized Hunting the Wild Pineapple.

Critic reviews

"This book raises Thea Astley's reputation even higher than it was. It is a measure not only of her knowledge, but of her curiosity, and it demonstrates the magnitude of her skills." (Australian Book Review)
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Enjoyed this book, without doubt! Wonderful storytelling, backed up with a variety filled with charm, wit and little hint of humour.

Entertaining!

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