Australian Encounters

Australian Encounters describes 50 true encounters – public or private, ill-fated or fortuitous – involving renowned Australian politicians, soldiers, film stars, artists, entrepreneurs and sporting legends captured at a decisive moment in their relationships – however brief or fleeting.

Subjects include Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, Donald Bradman and Boris Karloff, Margaret Fulton and Elizabeth David, Michael Hutchence and Kylie Minogue, Nana Mouskouri and Frank Hardy, Martina Navratilova, Breaker Morant, Elvis Presley, Henry Lawson, Nicolai Ceausescu and his mate Brian Burke, Bob Menzies, Mahatma Gandhi, Skylab, myxomatosis, Helena Rubinstein and many more.

These lively encounters appear regularly in the Monthly and are presented here as a collection for the first time.

“Bizarre, unexpected – and memorable!” – Barry Jones

“Shane Maloney has been getting couples to wriggle about lewdly under the doona for years. It’s a triumph that he has squeezed all that grunt and poke into this startling book.” – H.G. Nelson