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Collected Stories Marion Halligan
Marion Halligan has changed the landscape of short fiction in Australia, winning the coveted national Steele Rudd Award with her first collection, The Living Hothouse.Collected Stories gathers together fifty-five of her witty, ironic, insightful stories, many previously uncollected, others from The Living Hothouse and The Hanged Man in the Garden.
- GenresFictionShort Stories
545 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
14 people want to read
About the author
Marion Halligan
38 books18 followersMarion Halligan AM was an Australian writer and novelist. Born and educated in Newcastle, New South Wales, she worked as a school teacher and journalist prior to turning to full time writing.
A long time resident of Canberra, she was a member of a group of women writers based in Canberra known as the "Canberra Seven" or "Seven Writers" (1980-1997).
She has won and been shortlisted for numerous significant awards, notably for The Point, Lovers' Knots, Spider Cup and The Golden Dress.
In 2006 Halligan was made a Member in the Order of Australia (AM), General Division, for services to literature and for her work in promoting Australian literature.
A long time resident of Canberra, she was a member of a group of women writers based in Canberra known as the "Canberra Seven" or "Seven Writers" (1980-1997).
She has won and been shortlisted for numerous significant awards, notably for The Point, Lovers' Knots, Spider Cup and The Golden Dress.
In 2006 Halligan was made a Member in the Order of Australia (AM), General Division, for services to literature and for her work in promoting Australian literature.
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January 28, 2018
I'm cheating here as I haven't really finished this set of stories - but they are on my shelf and I know I'll go back to them when I need another 'dose' of Marion Halligan, one of my favourite writers. (She must surely be due to publish something new - the last one was 2015).
I read the stories from her early collection "The Living Hothouse" and found all the Halligan trademarks - wit, curiosity, humanity - in a conversational prose style that I find very appealing. A number of the stories are set in Paris, where Halligan lived for a time, so the descriptions of the setting and of Parisians were an added pleasure. I enjoyed the variety of the stories - the dark humour of some and the kindly characterisations of others. Like me, Halligan was at one time a teacher and she captured the school experience beautifully in 'A Gigolo, Miss Emery'. Another favourite was 'Thrift' - an ironical view of 50s sexuality. The opening story, 'Pity the Dumb Beast' was fun - with a hard edge. That to me is Halligan - a sharp but forgiving eye.
I read the stories from her early collection "The Living Hothouse" and found all the Halligan trademarks - wit, curiosity, humanity - in a conversational prose style that I find very appealing. A number of the stories are set in Paris, where Halligan lived for a time, so the descriptions of the setting and of Parisians were an added pleasure. I enjoyed the variety of the stories - the dark humour of some and the kindly characterisations of others. Like me, Halligan was at one time a teacher and she captured the school experience beautifully in 'A Gigolo, Miss Emery'. Another favourite was 'Thrift' - an ironical view of 50s sexuality. The opening story, 'Pity the Dumb Beast' was fun - with a hard edge. That to me is Halligan - a sharp but forgiving eye.
Displaying 1 of 1 review