...we rarely travel far to swim. We occasionally cross the river to
Leighton or Cottesloe, where the white sand squeaks underfoot and the
champagne foam in the shallows tingles the legs and fizzes over the
shoreline and makes children giddy with delight ... the cirrus clouds
above the horizon often resemble passages of perfect cursive script
written in soft white lines against the bluest page.
David Whish-Wilson's Perth is a place where deeper historical currents
are never far beneath the surface. Like the Swan River that can flow in
two directions at once, Perth strikes perfect harmony with the city's
contradictions and eccentricities.
Whish-Wilson takes us beyond the near-constant sunshine, shiny glass
facades, and boosterish talk of mining booms and the gloom after the
bust. Lyrical and sensitive, he introduces his readers to the richness
of the natural world and the trailblazers, the rebels, the occasional
ghost and the ordinary people that bring Australia's remotest capital
city to life.
Carefully researched, full of personal reminiscences and eye-opening
facts, this updated edition of Perth now has a remarkable new
postscript. Here Whish-Wilson returns to the city's ghosts, and reflects
on the place his children will inherit.
'...what recommends Perth above all is the great generosity,
inclusiveness and idiosyncrasy of its vision.' - Gail Jones, The
Canberra Times
'Poetic and lyrical...' - Sally Webb, The Sydney Morning Herald
'What he has written is a book on Perth that attains at times to the
status of poetry. Indeed, so rich and lyrical is Perth, so acute in
its insights and adept in its composition, that (G K) Chesterton's
paradox would appear well-founded.' - Richard King, The Australian
'Whish-Wilson has a shrewd eye for the quirky and the bizarre, but what
recommends Perth above all is the great generosity, inclusiveness and
idiosyncrasy of its vision.' - The Age
