Rigby's Romance

<p><I>Rigby's Romance</I> (1921) is a novel by Joseph Furphy. Written under his pseudonym Tom Collins <I>Rigby's Romance</I> is a sequel of sorts to <I>Such is Life</I> a unique and challenging story that took decades to achieve a proper audience. Earning comparisons to the works of Melville and Twain Furphy's novel is considered a landmark of Australian literature. Just as a bale of wool is dumped by hydraulic pressure to less than half its normal size I scientifically compressed something like twenty-four hours' sleep into the interval between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. Then a touch of what you call dyspepsia and I call laziness kept me debating with myself for another swift-running hour. Between such beguiling narration and lively conversations with the characters he meets on his travels through the Australian outback Tom Collins presents himself as a philosophizing everyman a prototype of such characters as Joyce's Leopold Bloom and Beckett's Molloy. Journeying in search of his friend Jefferson Rigby a gentleman and adventurer like himself Collins reflects on their history together and longs for his company. When the two meet up they engage in a long discussion on politics and the nature of humanity touching on topics as strange and diverse as Australia's legendary wildlife. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript this edition of Joseph Furphy's <I>Rigby's Romance</I> is a classic work of Australian literature reimagined for modern readers.</p>