Man-Shy
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''Man-Shy'' (1931) is a novel by
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n author Frank Dalby Davison. It won the
ALS Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the ...
for Best Novel in 1931.


Plot summary

Set on a Queensland cattle station, the novel tells the story of the interactions between man and beast with the cattle receiving prominence.


Publication

The author was originally unable to find a publisher for the novel and was forced to publish it himself. It was later picked up by
Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...
who issued a new edition."Australian Authors IX - Frank Dalby Davison"
by Aidan de Brune ''The West Australian'', 27 May 1933, p5
The book was later published successfully in America, under the title ''The Red Heifer''.


Reviews

On its first release, the reviewer in '' The Sydney Sun'' praised Davison's ability to get into the mind of an animal without descending into bathos. The review concluded: "This author knows his subject, and brings to the work also a great love of all dumb brutes as well as a peculiarly fine descriptive gift. His station scenes are so vividly recalled that the reader can almost hear the bellowing of the beasts and the crack of the stockwhips." Aidan de Brune, writing in ''The West Australian'' in a retrospective of the author's work stated that "Like the painter of pictures in oils, the writer, who is a painter of pictures in words, must trust his eye, and use his eye, before he begins to use his pen. Frank Davison understands this. He has looked closely at Australia before beginning to write about it. He has looked through his own eyes and not through the spectacles kindly provided for our use by English, and other visitors, to this country. That is why the work of Frank Dalby Davison is a portent for the future of the Australian novel." A reviewer in ''The Queensland Times'' noted that "With a happy gift of expression, Mr. Davison has painted the ordinary round of work on a cattle station with startling new tints, and always from the angle of the beast on the hoof."


References in books

In
Alex Miller Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequen ...
's novel ''Coal Creek'', hard-boiled inmates at Stuart prison soften at this tale of a red heifer's bid for freedom, "and were like children with it, demanding to have it read to them over and over".
Alex Miller Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequen ...
, ''Coal Creek'', Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, 2013, p. 279.


Awards and nominations

* 1931 winner
ALS Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man-Shy 1931 Australian novels ALS Gold Medal–winning works Novels set in Queensland Novels about animals Angus & Robertson books