Description
Shortlisted for The Dorothy Hewett Award
A property developer fears that a burgeoning ibis population will prevent the construction of a high rise apartment complex; a bus stop outside a dementia care facility in Düsseldorf suffers its own identity crisis; a young man’s new job requires him to pose as a woodcutter and wave at a trainload of tourists; an aging, reclusive archivist becomes locked in a strange battle of wills with a courier; a backpacker in Israel has a bizarre religious experience.
In these award-winning stories, David Cohen explores the oddities of human behaviour with wit, affection and startling brilliance.
‘Cohen’s tragi-comic sensibility creates some astonishing moments of what we might think of as the suburban surreal.’ Sophie Frazer, Australian Book Review
‘David Cohen’s imagination, as evidenced by his short-story collection, The Hunter, is a truly remarkable thing.’ The Saturday Paper
‘But looking past the humour, far more moving sentiments underly many of the stories centring on marginalised individuals. From the perspectives of those feeling disconnected from society via family breakdown, accident or illness, Cohen explores in thought-provoking ways the tendency toward obsession as their worlds become smaller (‘Shrinking’ and ‘Washing Day’) and the heartbreaking impacts of mental decline as we age (‘Lament of a Bus Stop outside the Benrath Senior Centre’ and ‘The Archive’).’ Booklover
