Joseph Furphy

Such Is Life details the splendidly farcical and tragic reminiscences of philosopher and rogue Tom Collins, and is widely recognised as a defining work of Australian literature, taking its title from what were supposedly the outlaw Ned Kelly's dying words. As Tom drives his team across the plains of the Riverina and Northern Victoria, he gets wildly entangled in the...

Such is Life is Furphy's great novel, first published in 1903, which signalled the end of the "colonial romance" with its realistic portrayal of Australian rural life.