A Voyage Around My Pipe and Other Fictions

These short fictions by renowned Australian author James Cowan, winner of the Australian Gold Medal for Fiction, offer the reader a remarkable flight to places that defy time. They deal with circumstances and events that lie beyond the scope of normal events. Is there a relationship between the fantastic and the real? Whether one is taking a voyage around the bowl of a pipe, or engaging with the magical properties of an elephant, the reader is encouraged to project himself into a state of mind where his own objectivity is questioned. A letter from Abelard to his true love Heloise, a man who becomes a fish, a journey among lost souls, or an encounter with headhunters in the jungle, these are but a few of the incidents that the author asks us to experience. In doing so, omen birds and anchorites appear to participate in a reality filled with portents and wonders. _A Voyage Around My Pipe_ is more than a match for how we see things. The reader is about to take an unforgettable ride to a place where the imagination is released from the constraints of established forms. In so doing, each story becomes a perfect antidote to what he or she considers to be real. "Find yourself a secluded garden alcove, a bottle of red and some crusty bread, and become engrossed." -Diana Ward "A writer to rival Eco..." -Mary Ryan