What is Australia’s best book? Our experts pick their favourites
ABC Radio National is about to reveal Australia’s top 100 books, chosen by popular vote. Ahead of the countdown, The Conversation has asked our experts for theirs.
Australia's best book, as voted by experts, varies greatly. For Shirley Hazzard, The Transit of Venus (1980) remains her favourite due to its pleasure in each sentence. Helen Garner's Joe Cinque's Consolation (2004) is another top pick for her, showcasing fearless reportage.
James Ley adores Frank Moorhouse's Dark Palace (2000) for its complexity and humor. Meanwhile, Christina Stead's 1940 classic The Man Who Loved Children and Judith Wright's 1999 memoir Half a Lifetime are celebrated.
Tim Flannery is moved by The Tree of Man (1955), a beautiful and true portrayal of a continent and its colonizers. Alan Jock Marshall's 1942 essay Australia Limited describes a parochial Australia, offering a sharp and witty perspective from a soldier's viewpoint.
Robert Manne's choice of Judith Wright's haunting The Cry for the Dead (1982) and Henry Reynolds' The Other Side of the Frontier (1981) reflects the importance of Indigenous dispossession in Australian literature. Sarah Holland-Batt cherishes Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore and The Shock of the New, admiring his critical genius and insightful view of artists.
Gwen Harwood's playfulness and refusal to conform to orthodoxies are highlighted in her Collected Poems 1943–1995 (2003). Debra Adelaide is also recognized as an esteemed author.
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