The Best Australian Essays 2014

‘Some essays in this collection plunged me into thought. Some caused me to weep. Some brought tears of laughter. Some essays won me over by the power of their imagination. Some by their analytic clarity. Some by their excruciating honesty. Some by the pain of things past or present faced without flinching.’ —Robert Manne

In The Best Australian Essays 2014, Robert Manne assembles his picks of contemporary non-fiction writing. Tim Winton reflects on the impact of landscape on the Australian character; Helen Garner remembers her mother with a raw and stirring poignancy; Christos Tsiolkas wonders how the Left forgot their origins; Tim Flannery traces the history of the Great Barrier Reef and fears its destruction. With essays traversing madness, liberty under the rule of Tony Abbott, the enslaving of horses and the legacy of Doris Lessing, this sharp collection offers lucid insight, shrewd understanding and heartbreaking empathy.

Moreno Giovannoni • Rozanna Lilley • Caroline Baum • Guy Rundle • Peter Conrad • Jessie Cole • Karen Hitchcock • Antonia Hayes • Luke Ryan • Helen Garner • Sybille Smith • Christian Ryan • Dennis Glover • Don Watson • Rachel Nolan • David Marr • J.M. Coetzee • Nicolas Rothwell • David Malouf • Clive James • Carrie Tiffany • Robyn Davidson • Neil Murray • Noel Pearson • Christos Tsiolkas • Luke Mogelson • Tim Flannery • Tim Winton

‘Mogelson’s account of the suffering endured by [a group of asylum seekers] is among the most vivid and painful things I have read this year.’ —Canberra Times

‘A wonderfully diverse and acute collection’ —Launceston Examiner

Robert Manne’s many books include Making Trouble and The Words That Made Australia (as co-editor). He is the author of three Quarterly Essays, In Denial, Sending Them Home and Bad News.