Major Works of Joseph Furphy

by Joseph Furphy

On Joseph

Joseph Furphy (26 September 1843 – 13 September 1912), is widely regarded as the "Father of the Australian novel". He mostly wrote under the pseudonym Tom Collins, and is best known for his novel Such Is Life (1903), regarded as an Australian classic.
( Wikipedia.org)

“Major Works of Joseph Furphy”
•An aesthetic cover page
•A beginning click-able Table of Contents for all titles
•Inner click-able Tables of Contents for all individual books with multiple chapters
•Nicely organized chapters and text

Author’s works in this collection

•SUCH IS LIFE
•RIGBY’S ROMANCE
•THE BULN-BULN AND THE BROLGA

754 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 24, 2016

About the author

Born to a farming family in colonial Victoria, Joseph Furphy spent his working life as a grazier, engine driver, and bullock-team leader. An avid reader and writer (he memorised passages of Shakespeare from the age of seven, as it was the only book in the house other than the Bible), Furphy composed short stories which were intermittently published in newspapers such as The Bulletin. Much of his work was published under the pseudonym "Tom Collins", and he is still sometimes misidentified as such today.

In 1897, Furphy completed his manuscript for a novel, "Such is Life", which was sent to the Bulletin's editor, A.G. Stephens. Stephens recommended changes and cuts, including two entire chapters. The novel was published in 1903 and, although its sales were limited, "Such is Life" quickly came to exemplify a new school of Australian literature, one that operated in resistance to the standard colonial and traditional writing of the time. The book has been described as occupying a similar place in the Australian scene of the turn-of-the-century as "Tristram Shandy" or "Ulysses" in their respective countries.

In 1905, Furphy moved to Western Australia where his sons were living and working. The two excised chapters from his novel were extended and formed two further works: "Rigby's Romance" (serialised in 1905 but not published in book form until 1921), and "The Buln-Buln and the Brolga" (published posthumously). Furphy died in 1912.

"Such is Life" gradually developed a reputation as an Australian classic. Miles Franklin and Kate Baker published a biography of Furphy in 1944, and the author's Western Australian home eventualyl became the headquarters of the state branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers. In 1992, a Furphy Literary Award was established by his descendants and, in 2003, a statue was raised in his home town.

The Australian word "furphy" is used to mean a tall story. Although such stories pepper his works, and are the most obvious trait of Furphy's writing, the word seems to have been somewhat coincidental. Research suggest that the word originated around the same time as a result of a popular type of water carts - which were produced by a firm owned by, of all people, Furphy's brother.