Author(s): Max Anderson

Biography

"Listen carefully and I'll tell you where the gold is..." So begins Digger, Max Anderson's classic tale of adventure and adversity as he tries to stake a claim among the hard-bitten gold-seekers of the West Australian deserts. First published by Picador UK in 2004, Digger took readers into a world like no other - a Goldfields ghost town of 13 people, home to characters like snarling ex-truckie Ron, veteran treasure hunter Lazy Les and the elusive publican of the Grand Hotel, Kevin Pusey, who surveys all through a haze of cigarillo smoke. Digging between the abandoned shafts, Anderson learns the business of 'chasing the weight', unearthing superstitions and secrets, as well as stories of the original desert diggers who thirsted for gold. But ultimately he sinks deep into a small town's psyche and - risking his relationship and his self-respect - down to the bedrock of an age-old obsession. Gold. Reviews for Digger...* "Old-time prospectors know how to deal with this squeaky clean novice. But Anderson wins them over, as he wins over his readers, with his thoroughness, lack of pretension and an irrepressible enthusiasm" Sunday Times, UK * "As entertaining a book as I've read this year. Anderson is a good listener, a keen observer, an avid researcher and a fine writer...He writes best of the complex webs of rules and etiquettes between diggers and the compulsion that drives them...The resulting account is informative, amusing and sometimes moving. You can hardly ask for more than that." Sydney Morning Herald * "A classic adventure travel story with a final, almost incredible twist...Anderson is an excellent writer" South China Morning Post * "An outstanding first - a compelling, effortless read, where nothing grates. The text builds on total immersion in a culture, and comprehensive research into its evolution...As interestingly informative as it is entertaining." Wanderlust, UK * "Absorbing history of an obsession." Publishing News, UK * "Rich with historical detail." Good Taste Magazine, Australia * "As much an affectionate tribute to the people Anderson met in Kookynie as it is a record of his blundering about the bush...[ Anderson] has produced a warmly glowing little nugget in this good-humoured and finely observed book." Literary Review, UK * "A boy's own adventure story played out on the dusty, pitted remnants of the West Australian goldfields...[Anderson] does a good line in self-deprecation, is cheerfully wry and has diligently researched Australian gold-rush history." Times Literary Supplement, UK * "Entertaining, informative and useful." The Bulletin * "The real mother lode he found was in chronicling the colourful characters of Kookynie - all 13 of them...A rollicking diary." Breakfast with Peter Thompson, ABC Radio National