The 44 essays and other pieces collected in his new book range from Adam Lindsay Gordon to Peter Corris, and include Eleanor Dark, Hal Porter, Christina Stead, Dal Stivens and A. B. Facey among many other creators of the unique body of literature Australians may claim as their own. The contribution Michael Wilding has made to the study of Australian Literature, and to literary publishing in Australia and as a novelist in his own right, has been enormous. The most recent count of his works made it 29 non-fiction; 3 documentaries; and 28 novels & short-story collections (not to mention the Cosmo centrefold).