November Harper Highlights

The Land Before Avocado R I CHARD GLOV E R

Able: The astonishing life of Australia’s most inspirational athlete

DYL AN A LCOT T

The new book from the bestselling author of Flesh Wounds . A funny and frank look at the way Australia used to be – and just how far we have come.

In The Land Before Avocado , Richard Glover takes a journey to an almost unrecognisable Australia. It’s a vivid portrait of a quite peculiar land: a place that is scary and weird, dangerous and incomprehensible, and, now and then, surprisingly appealing.

The astonishing life of Australia’s most inspirational athlete.

Non Fiction | November 2018

Not long after he was born in 1990, Dylan Alcott was found to have a tumour on his spine. The surgery to remove it was successful, but left Dylan a paraplegic. Dylan experienced his fair share of bullying and loneliness growing up. By early high school he was feeling pretty low – depressed, overweight and fearful for his future. Then, somehow, he discovered sport – swimming, basketball and tennis. Fast forward 10 years or so and Dylan, Order of Australia recipient, has climbed to the top, winning gold and silver at two Paralympics in two sports. In Able , Dylan Alcott at last tells his story. Dylan Alcott OAM is an Australian Paralympics champion, winning gold and silver for basketball in 2008 and 2012, and gold at Rio in 2016 for tennis. Dylan has won the Australian Open Tennis Championships four times, most recently in January 2018, and the US Open in 2015, when he was ranked Number 1 in the world. He is on track to defend his title at the 2019 Australian Open. In 2017, Dylan founded the Dylan Alcott Foundation, which focuses on helping young Australians with disabilities gain self-esteem through sport and study. He is also a triple j radio host, motivational speaker and youth mentor. Dylan lives in Melbourne.

It’s the Australia of his childhood. The Australia of the late ’60s and early ’70s.

It’s a place of funny clothing and food that was appalling, but amusingly so. It’s also the land of staggeringly awful attitudes – often enshrined in law – towards anybody who didn’t fit in. The Land Before Avocado will make you laugh and cry, be angry and inspired. And will leave you wondering how bizarre things were, not so long ago.

Most of all it will make you realise how far we’ve come – and how much further we have to go.

‘This is vintage Glover – warm, wise and very, very funny. Brimming with excruciating insights into life in the ’60s and ’70s, The Land Before Avocado explains why this was the cultural revolution we had to have.’ Hugh Mackay Richard Glover has written a number of bestselling books, including Flesh Wounds and The Mud House . He writes a weekly column for the Sydney Morning Herald and presents ‘Drive’ on ABC Radio Sydney. Richard lives in Sydney.

richardglover.com.au

dylanalcottfoundation.com.au

9780733339875 | e 9781460711118 | Released: 22/10/18 CHB | 352pp | AU $39.99 NZ $45.00 Publicity contact: Matthew.Howard@harpercollins.com.au

9780733339813 | e 9781460711002 | Released: 22/10/18 NSP | 288pp | AU $29.99 NZ $32.99 Publicity contact: Matthew.Howard@harpercollins.com.au

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