These six short novels and stories achieve the majesty and power of the best of Patrick White's great novels. They probe beneath the surface of events – a sexual lapse, the unaccustomed climate of a foreign country, interruptions in a cherished routine, a death, a toothache – to expose a deeper, truer reality. 'To read Patrick White...is to touch a source of power, to move through areas made new and fresh, to see men and women with a sharpened gaze.' Daily Telegraph (London) 'The Cockatoos...is superb. It is a slow, beautiful dance of love and death.' Chicago Tribune Book World