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The Glass Canoe

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The Glass Canoe by David Ireland is a thought-provoking exploration of Australian working-class culture. Set in a pub, the story delves into the lives of its patrons, reflecting on themes of identity, masculinity, and societal change. Through vivid narrative and character interaction, the novel captures the essence of a community grappling with the pressures of modernity.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3499
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

If you appreciate gritty, character-driven narratives set in Australian pub culture, this work might captivate you. It offers a vivid exploration of working-class life with a mix of raw humour and poignant insights into human behaviour. Those interested in stories that delve into themes of identity, community, and existential reflection are likely to find this book appealing.

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The Glass Canoe (1976) is the pub where the male workers aggressively shelter from their wives, their lives and their work. It is both a graphic illustration of the alienation of labour under modern industrial capitalism and an insight into the suburbs that surround Australian cities. It's funny; it's tragic; it's real.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Glass Canoe

The Glass Canoe by David Ireland is a classic work of Australian literature. It centres around the pubโ€”a refuge where male workers aggressively shelter from their wives, their work, and their everyday lives. This 1976 novel offers a graphic illustration of the alienation of labour under modern industrial capitalism, providing insights into the suburbs surrounding Australian cities. It's funny, tragic, and real.

David Ireland was born in Lakemba, NSW, in 1927. After finishing school, he spent much of his working life in an oil refinery. His first novel, The Chantic Bird, was published in 1968. Throughout his career, David has received numerous accolades, including being made AO in 1981 and awarded the Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society in 1985.

He is also a recipient of the Miles Franklin Literary Award for three of his novels: The Unknown Industrial Prisoner in 1971, The Glass Canoe in 1976, and A Woman of the Future in 1979.

Series: Classic Australian Works

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  • The Glass Canoe
    The Glass Canoe The Glass Canoe by David Ireland is a classic work of Australian literature. It centres around the pubโ€”a refuge where male workers aggressively shelter from their wives, their work, and their everyday lives. This 1976 novel offers a graphic illustration of the alienation of labour under modern industrial capitalism, providing insights into the suburbs surrounding Australian cities....
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  • The Impersonators
    The Impersonators portrays the breakdown of family relationships and the endurance of love in a materialistic age sensitively, perceptively, and humorously. When Sylvia Foley returns to Australia after twenty years, she finds her father, Jack Cornock, ill. This and his obstinate silence provoke speculation about his will among the families of his two marriages. Sylvia becomes enmeshed in the webs...
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  • Trap
    Trap (1966) won the Miles Franklin Literary Award when it was published. Its comic and satiric elements and use of several narrative voices provide revealing interpretations of cross-cultural relations, bureaucracy, and politics in Australia. Peter Mathers was born in England in 1931 and came to Australia with his family as a child. From 1964 to 1967, he worked in Britain...
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781920897147

Publisher: Oxford University Press Australia

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 December 2003

Country: Australia

Imprint: Sydney University Press (OUP Australia and New Zea

Illustration: Illustrations

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 148.0mm

Height: 210.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 241

Also by David Ireland

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  • A Woman Of The Future
    A Woman of the Future, first published in 1979, was David Ireland's best-selling sixth novel and his third to win the Miles Franklin Award. An imaginative tour de force, it is the story of the young life of Anthea Hunt - from conception to sexual awakening. It is controversial and brilliant, and unlike anything else in Australian literature. Now published...
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  • The Chantic Bird
    The Chantic Bird is the confession of a teenage anarchist, who combines contempt for contemporary society with a great tenderness and warmth for his younger siblings and for Bee, the girl who looks after them. The first of David Ireland's masterful novels, The Chantic Bird contains the same characteristic indictment of the bovine mindlessness of collective humanity, and the home-owning...
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  • The Glass Canoe
    On hot days we jumped fully clothed into our bottomless beer glasses and pushed off from shore without a backward look. Heading for the deep, where it was calm and cool. Meat Man is a regular at the Southern Cross pub in Sydney. With his tribe, he sits and drinks and watches as life spirals around him. David Ireland's novel...
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  • The Unknown Industrial Prisoner
    On the shores of Botany Bay lies an oil refinery where workers are free to come and go, but they are also part of an unrelenting, alienating economy from which there is no escape. In the first of his three Miles Franklin Award-winning novels, originally published in 1971, David Ireland offers a fiercely brilliant comic portrait of Australia in the...
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  • The Fifth Step
    Nominated for Best New Play at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards 2026 The point is to divest yourself of shame. Anything that'll make you pick up a drink in the future. It's about getting clean. After many years in the 12-step programme of Alcoholics Anonymous, James agrees to become the sponsor of newcomer Luka. On the journey to sobriety, the...
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  • David Ireland Plays 1
    'Playwright David Ireland challenges people to draw lines between what they find funny and what they find outrageous' (Sydney Morning Herald). This first collection of plays by David Ireland brings together three of his most successful hits that have enjoyed numerous productions around the world, alongside two previously unpublished plays: Half a Glass of Water: 'The dialogue is brutal and...
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  • The Extraordinary Life of the Wildlife Man: Death-defying encounters with crocs, sharks and wild animals
    "In my line of work, knowing when to obey fear and when to ignore it is often the difference between life and death." David Ireland has handfed bull sharks, filmed inside the jaws of a saltwater crocodile, looked into the black eyes of a great white shark, and felt the breath of a lion devouring a wildebeest. In working with...
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