Though animal stories and fables stretch back into the antiquity of ancient India, Persia, Greece and Rome, the reasons for writing them and their resonance for readers (and listeners) remain consistent to the present. This work argues for their essential roles as sources of amusement and instruction, as well as being profoundly unsettling. Authors as diverse as Tolkien, Freud, Voltaire, Bakhtin, Cordwainer Smith, Karel Capek, Vladimir Propp, and many more are discussed in relation to their work in the realm of the animal fable.

The life story of Joan Martin is that of a fierce Aboriginal woman who fought for the rights of her community and her autobiography also tells of the Aboriginal experience in general since World War II. Born in the country town of Morawa, Western Australia, in 1941, Martin led an exciting and adventurous life filled with great challenges including her efforts to avoid Native Welfare, so as not to be shipped to a mission, and her later very public battle with Homeswest for the right to live in peace in her own home. Joan played a central part in the native title claim of the Widi, which...

This book is an appreciation of selected authors who make extensive use of humor in English detective/crime fiction. Works using humor as an amelioration of the serious have their heyday in the Golden Age of crime writing but they belong also to a long tradition. There is an identifiable lineage of humorous writing in crime fiction that ranges from mild wit to outright farce, burlesque, even slapstick. A mix of entertainment with instruction is a tradition in English letters. English crime fiction writers of the era circa 1913 to 1940 were raised in the mainstream literary tradition but...