Upton Sinclair meets Joseph Heller, the funniest book since A Confederacy of Dunces. Austin's novel is an unlikely mixture of expose, social satire and high comedy that somehow, brilliantly, succeeds. It will make you laugh, cry, and want to punch out your boss. Don't read this book at work, but by all means read it. Charles Dodt, Author, The Night Boy *** Do you remember the best time of your life? For Chuck Farlowe, his time came and went, one April day back in 1973. His "A" game, unfortunately, was left in the dugout that day. Cut to 1998. His son, Danny, is at the crossroads of his life. A young man in need of answers, he finds them in the form of a long-buried manuscript written by his father back in 1973. Suddenly he finds himself at a strange place and time the Hotchkis Department Store in downtown Oakland, circa 1970. Danny is introduced to both the store manager, Matt Farber, and the store owner, Isaac Benjamin Stern. Soon a union election begins to loom ominously. Chuck manages to find a kindred spirit in Lee Kroeber, and eventually, after a struggle, with Cooper Smith, whose own bitterness and alienation over store racism threatens to change the entire store dynamic. When Wayne Justice joins the Hotchkis fold in 1971, soon the era of poker and male bonding begin. Rediscovering Mrs. Murphy is all about fighting through the pain of the past and rediscovering what really matters.

Rhetoric is ubiquitous in modern discourse: from arguments delivered in the High Court, to advertisements disseminated in the high street. For the legal and political advocate, persuasion is also a professional technique that must be perfected properly to practise each art. In contrast with the classical era and the middle ages, in which grammar, rhetoric and dialectic were basic features of all education, modern curricula almost entirely neglect any theoretical study of the methods of rhetoric. Rediscovering Rhetoric re-introduces to modern practitioners and students a grasp of the speeches, writings and methodologies of the great classical scholars of rhetoric. Part 1 - Law and Language in the Greco-Roman Tradition provides a contextualised introduction to significant theorists of rhetoric in the classical period, and consists of four chapters written by practising barristers and a current Justice of the Federal Court of Australia. Part 2 - The Practice of Persuasion comprises essays by practitioners distinguished in their pursuit of legal persuasion - one former and two current Justices of the High Court of Australia - illuminating their experiences of argument from the perspective of both bench and bar. Part 3 - The Politics of Persuasion performs a similar function to Part 2, in the related domain of politics. It includes a chapter by Graham Freudenberg, former speechwriter for Gough Whitlam and others. Together the three parts provide a unique inter-disciplinary perspective on the theory and practice of legal and political persuasion. Published in association with the NSW Bar Association.

Rediscovering the British World is one part of an ongoing attempt to approach British Imperial history from a different viewpoint, placing the colonies of settlement at the centre. Editors Phillip Buckner and Douglas Francis have included nineteen essays from expert scholars in the field, which cover a broad range of cultural, social, and intellectual topics in British imperial history from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. The essays focus on the history of Britain and the Empire, with considerable emphasis on the self-governing dominions of Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. They attempt to show the centrality of the Empire in the history of the nations created by the British diaspora overseas, while at the same time calling into question the extent of the existence of a "British World." The goal is not to wax nostalgic, but rather to re-examine the complex phenomenon of this far-reaching empire and to shed light on the ways in which it has shaped our world. With contributions by: James Belich Frank Bongiorno Bettina Bradbury Patrick H. Brennan Phillip Buckner Elizabeth Elbourne R. Douglas Francis Jeffrey Grey Catherine Hall John Lambert Douglas Lorimer David Lowe Stuart Macintyre Adele Perry Paul Pickering Satadru Sen R. Scott Sheffield Paul Ward Stuart Ward Wendy Webster

Rediscovering the Law of Negligence offers a systematic and theoretical exploration of the law of negligence. Its aim is to re-establish the notion that thinking about the law ought to and can proceed on the basis of principle. As such, it is opposed to the prevalent modern view that the various aspects of the law are and must be based on individual policy decisions and that the task of the judge or commentator is to shape the law in terms of the relevant policies as she sees them. The book, then, is an attempt to re-establish the law of negligence as a body of law rather than as a branch of politics. The book argues that the law of negligence is best understood in terms of a relatively small set of principles enunciated in a small number of leading cases. It further argues that these principles are themselves best seen in terms of an aspect of morality called corrective justice which, when applied to the most important aspects of the law of negligence reveals that the law - even as it now exists - possesses a far greater degree of conceptual unity than is commonly thought. Using this method the author is able to examine familiar aspects of the law of negligence such as the standard of care; the duty of care; remoteness; misfeasance; economic loss; negligent misrepresentation; the liability of public bodies; wrongful conception; nervous shock; the defences of contributory negligence, voluntary assumption of risk, and illegality; causation; and issues concerning proof, to show that when the principles are applied and the idea of corrective justice is properly understood then the law appears both systematic and conceptually satisfactory. The upshot is a rediscovery of the law of negligence.

The demographic shift to a much older population is having a large impact on social work professionals who have traditionally been the primary caretakers of the elderly. As more people are living into advanced old age, it is becoming increasingly important to understand and treat the wide range of psychological disorders which may affect them, rather than simply attributing the disorders to senescence as was frequently done in the past. Mental Health and the Elderly: A Social Work Perspective is a comprehensive guide to diagnosis and treatment of the range of disorders affecting the elderly.

Graham Hutchins fell in love with trains at an early age. As a youngster growing up in the railway town of Te Kuiti, he would gaze on the steaming monsters as they thundered through the King Country. Before long, train travel became more than a pastime, more than a fascination: he was hooked. As he recounts in this book, he was just ten years old when he undertook a journey alone on the night train to Auckland. From then on he travelled as much as he could, and later as a young man searched out the smaller forgotten lines to experience what they had to offer. Stop the Train! I want to get on describes his experiences travelling throughout New Zealand on regular passenger trains, railcars, goods trains and work trains. The routes he traverses include the Central Otago line, the Gisborne Railcar, the Southerner to Invercargill, a mixed train through rural Taranaki, a workers’ train from Greymouth on the Rewanui Incline, the Endeavour to Hawke’s Bay, the Silver Fern Railcar and more. Many services have now been axed, but he vividly recalls their delights, from the scenery outside to the often primitive conditions inside and the people he encounters along the way. He also tells many engaging tales about the history of the lines and what makes each so distinctive. Sometimes alone, on other occasions with his wife Jenny or his mate Russell, he conveys the unique experience and sheer pleasure of rail travel in every corner of New Zealand, from the 1950s to the present day. ‘Some people take to the bottle, others go shopping. I jump on a train, if I can find one, and wait for the swish and sway to take me away. Away from the down times. For me the diversion comes as much from the rhythm as the passing landscapes from the train window.’ Graham Hutchins remembers the incredibly varied journeys he has taken by train throughout New Zealand. They have given him a lifetime of pleasure. Night trains and The Northerner The Midland Line: Christchurch to the West Coast The Gisborne Railcar The Central Otago Line: Alexandra to Dunedin The Picton–Christchurch Railcar The Silver Star: Auckland to Wellington Greymouth to Rewanui and back By mixed train on the Stratford to Okahukura Line Hamilton to Mount Maunganui The Silver Fern Railcar on the Main Trunk Line The Endeavour: Wellington to Napier The Southerner: Christchurch to Invercargill The Northern Explorer