Australia's Funniest Yarns

Author: Graham Seal
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760872911
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
Whatever the circumstances, Australians have always found something to laugh about, laugh at or laugh off. Graham Seal has been gathering traditional stories from country towns and the outback for decades, and here he compiles the very funniest stories he has encountered. 'Graham Seal writes ripper, fair dinkum, true-blue Aussie yarns.' - The Weekly Times Australians traditionally like their humour irreverent, crude and with very sharp teeth. Perhaps you've heard of the vicious drop bears that fall on unsuspecting tourists as they walk through the bush? Or the hoop snakes that put their tails in their mouths as they roll down the hill towards you? Or how about the Citizenship Test for Aspiring Australians which begins with this question about an essential life skill: 'How many slabs can you fit in the back of a Falcon ute while also allowing room for your cattle dog?' The bush is the source of traditional Aussie humour. Pioneering, settlement and battling fire, flood and drought have produced yarns of tough cocky farmers, shearers, bush workers, swaggies and dreadful cooks. Much of this humour relates to the resilience and fortitude necessary to endure the realities of rural life. Australians took this sensibility with them to war and to work in the cities, and the tradition continues today. Whatever the circumstances, Australians have always found something to laugh about, laugh at or laugh off. 'Graham Seal has the knack of the storyteller.' - Warren Fahey AM

The Best Australian Yarns

Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1743435851
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 513

Book Description
An omnibus from Jim Haynes about the true essence of what makes us Australians - our yarns, collected from every walk of life. Best Australian Yarns is a substantial and definitive collection of factual and fanciful Aussie stories, humour and anecdotes--the result of decades of researching popular Aussie culture and history and yarning to mates and other colourful characters from all parts of Australia and all walks of life. This collection includes tall stories from the bush, reminiscences from the racetrack and shearing shed, railway yarns, stories from the world of show business, Aboriginal legends and humour, digger yarns from both world wars, ghost stories, monsters, bunyips and yowies. and many things you never knew about our amazing history and the characters who made it--the pioneers, heroes, convicts, bushrangers, eccentrics and brave and forgotten men and women whose fascinating lives and achievements created the Aussie spirit that we all love. While the stories range from poignant to hilarious, many simply describe unusual coincidences, strange occurrences or simple everyday humorous events with a refreshing understatement that vividly evokes a vanishing Australia where looking for a good laugh was a key component of a cheekier national character and a simpler lifestyle.

The Big Book of Great Australian Bush Yarns

Author: Graham Seal
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761060856
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 520

Book Description
Two of Graham Seal's bestselling collections of stories from around Australia, now in one volume. 'Aussies know how to spin a good yarn, and Graham Seal knows how to tell them.' - Weekly Times Graham Seal is one of Australia's master storytellers. This bumper collection of yarns from the bush gathers some of our best stories since colonial times, retold in Graham's warm style. It takes a certain character to make a living in the Australian bush. In the most difficult situations, laughter often comes to the rescue. Here are pioneers and battlers, convicts and settler's children, and a land that tests them with fire, flood and drought, in stories resonant with Australia's distinctive wry humour. Originally published as two bestselling collections: Great Australian Stories and Larrikins, Bush Tales and Other Great Australian Stories. 'Graham Seal has the knack of the storyteller.' - Warren Fahey AM

Great Australian Outback Yarns

Author: Bill Marsh
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
ISBN: 1460714393
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Book Description
A collection of the funniest yarns and most colourful characters from the bestselling 'Great Australian Stories' series from beloved storyteller Bill 'Swampy' Marsh. When he'd finished playing, a solemn silence fell as Brian and the gravediggers stared down into that three-quarter-filled hole. 'I must apologise,' Brian said to the two men, 'this's the first time I've played at a pauper's funeral, and I'm a bit emotional.' 'Well,' said one of the diggers, sniffling back the tears, 'it's the first time we've ever had a piper play at one of our septic tank installations.' The Australian Outback can be harsh, but it's the kind of place where you either learn to laugh off your troubles or fold under the pressure. Bill 'Swampy' Marsh has a deep affection and respect for people living in the Australian Bush, and he's spent more than twenty years travelling to every corner of our wide brown land, talking to people from all walks of life, collecting their memories and stories. Great Australian Outback Yarns captures the funniest tales from Swampy's many books in one volume. The colourful characters in these pages are full of generosity, humour and a larrikin Aussie spirit. These true stories of life in remote and regional Australia from Australia's master storyteller will leave you grinning from ear to ear. Bill 'Swampy' Marsh is an award-winning writer and performer of stories, songs and plays. He spent most of his youth in rural south-western NSW and now lives in Adelaide. This is his twenty-fifth book.

Great Australian Beer Yarns

Author: Peter Lalor
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers Australia Pty Limited
ISBN: 9780733333279
Category : Alcoholism
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
A beer barrel full of yarns, laughs and beer-related facts, this is the perfect book to flip through while you're enjoying a cold one! Why is one of our prime ministers in the GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS? How many beers did Rodney Marsh really drink? How did beer save the life of a bloke bitten by a bloody great big brown snake? the answers to these and many other burning beer-related questions can be found in the pages of the great Aussie volume, GREAt AUStRALIAN BEER YARNS. With this collection of funny, frank and fascinating beer stories, Peter Lalor has managed to create every beer lover's dream - the perfect book to flip through while you're enjoying a cold one!

Australia's Greatest Stories

Author: Graham Seal
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761189808
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
Tall tales and colourful characters, from ancient times to today; these are the stories that reveal what makes us distinctively Australian. Some of the world's oldest stories are told beneath Australian skies. Master storyteller Graham Seal takes us on a journey through time, from ancient narratives recounted across generations to the symbols and myths that resonate with Australians today. He uncovers tales of ancient floods and volcanic eruptions, and shows us Australia's own silk road. He locates the real Crocodile Dundee and explores the truth behind the legend of the Pilliga Princess. He retells old favourites such as the great flood at Gundagai, the boundary rider's wife and the Australian who invented the first military tank, and presents little known figures like mailman Jimmy, who carried the post barefoot across the Nullarbor Plain, architect Edith Emery and Paddy the Poet, as well as the unusual sporting techniques of the Gumboot Tortoise. These yarns of ratbags, rebels, heroes and villains, unsettling legends and clever creations reveal that it's the small, human stories that, together, make up the greater story of Australia and its people. 'Graham Seal has the knack of the storyteller' - Warren Fahey

Great Australian Mysteries

Author: Graham Seal
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1761063421
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
Australia's master storyteller Graham Seal brings to life the enigmas and puzzles behind famous unsolved crimes, long-held secrets, buried loot and strange phenomena from the bush and the city. Australia has always been a land of mysteries. Some are ancient, some are historical, and many continue to perplex us today - and will probably continue to do so tomorrow. More often than most of us would like to think, things simply vanish, and people disappear without explanation, leaving a trail of heartbreak across generations. Australia also has its fair share of buried loot and fabulous riches gone missing - somewhere. Master storyteller Graham Seal has gathered mysteries from around Australia. There are riddles of lost explorers, unexplained phenomena, and yarns of fish, frogs or pebbles falling from the sky. There are unsolved crimes and long-held secrets; hidden tunnels and wartime enigmas; and hair-raising tales from the bush and from the city. 'Graham Seal brings to life stories of missing treasures, shipwrecks, First Nation legends, mysterious happenings and the occasional murder... I had often wondered what happened to Cook's vessel the Endeavour, Ned Kelly's skull and The Pyjama Girl's murderer. Graham's book answers most of these queries but, as with any good mystery, raises further questions and makes you think.' - Rob Willis OAM, National Library of Australia Oral History and Folklore Collections

Great Australian Stories

Author: Graham Seal
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1742693733
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 309

Book Description
From pioneer tales to urban myths, folklore expert Graham Seal has gathered some of the best Australian stories from around the country, and this?new edition contains?10 extra stories. Australia has a rich tradition of story telling that reflects?a unique history and experience. Great Australian Stories is the most representative collection available of the stories?Aussies tell about themselves. Graham Seal explains where the stories come from, and why even the outright lies reveal a truth of sorts.

Aussie Yarns

Author: Kel Richards
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781876825416
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 124

Book Description
Kel Richards has put together a collection of his original Aussie yarns and ballads to tickle your funny bone and stimulate your grey matter. Here's your chance to match wits with Constable Clancy Paterson, sole policeman in the tiny outback town of Yallambee, in some of his most puzzling cases.

The Best Australian Bush Stories

Author: Jim Haynes
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1743314396
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 418

Book Description
Stories that take us from the Mallee to the back of Bourke and beyond . an indispensable collection about the enduring appeal of the Australian bush.