Talking to My Country

Book excerpt: The acclaimed national bestseller - moving, passionate, deeply felt and powerful. In July 2015, as the debate over Adam Goodes being booed at AFL games raged and got ever more heated and ugly, Stan Grant wrote a short but powerful piece for The Guardian that went viral, not only in Australia but right around the world, shared over 100,000 times on social media. His was a personal, passionate and powerful response to racism in Australia and the sorrow, shame, anger and hardship of being an indigenous man. ''We are the detritus of the brutality of the Australian frontier'', he wrote, ''We remained a reminder of what was lost, what was taken, what was destroyed to scaffold the building of this nation''s prosperity.'' Stan Grant was lucky enough to find an escape route, making his way through education to become one of our leading journalists. He also spent many years outside Australia, working in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, a time that liberated him and gave him a unique perspective on Australia. This is his very personal meditation on what it means to be Australian, what it means to be indigenous, and what racism really means in this country. Talking to My Country is that rare and special book that talks to every Australian about their country - what it is, and what it could be. It is not just about race, or about indigenous people but all of us, our shared identity. Direct, honest and forthright, Stan is talking to us all. He might not have all the answers but he wants us to keep on asking the question: how can we be better? Winner of the 2016 Walkley Book Award and the 2016 National Trust Heritage Award, and shortlisted for the 2016 NIB Waverley Library Award and the 2016 Queensland Literary Award. ''Grant will be an important voice in shaping this nation'' The Saturday paper ''It is a story so essential and salutary to this place that it should be given out free at the ballot box'' Sydney Morning Herald ''Grant is a natural storyteller - at his best when recounting his experiences and observations of Indigenous Australian life with devastating simplicity and acuity. This highly readable book ... has the potential to spark empathy and generate important discussion, and deserves to be read widely.'' Bookseller + Publisher ''...an urgent and flowing narrative in a book that should be on the required reading list in every school'' The Australian