The Stories of Bill Manhire

Sheep-shearing galas, Antarctic ponies, human clones, the Queen’s visit to Dunedin, a pounamu decoder, a childhood in the pubs of the South Island, the last days of Robert Louis Stevenson—this is Bill Manhire as backyard inventor, devising stories in which the fabulous and the everyday collide. The Stories of Bill Manhire collects the stories fromThe New Land: A Picture Book (1990) and those added to South Pacific (1994) andSongs of My Life (1996). In addition there are previously uncollected and unpublished stories, the choose-your-own-adventure novellaThe Brain of Katherine Mansfield (1988), and the memoir Under the Influence(2003). From reviews of South Pacific: –‘His voice is appealingly restless and seriously funny.’New York Times –‘South Pacific made me laugh aloud frequently. Yet at core it’s extremely serious, radiating a love of New Zealand and worry about the human world which it represents.’ Scotland on Sunday–‘Manhire’s negotiation between the local and the archetypal is witty and flexible, and his range of reference makes this collection an entertaining, challenging read.’Times Literary Supplement