Peter Denton

When I visited Amazon recently I found a book I'd written but didn't know existed. Weird? Well, it happened like this.

In about 1986 my publisher commissioned a manuscript, paid for it, and we then parted company. The book never appeared. I had always assumed the ms had been trashed. It was only short and I'd been paid. I moved on.

Then I see it on Amazon over twenty years later. It's called Australia: A Portrait. Naturally I bought a copy. It cost 55 cents (secondhand, hardcover), $14.50 to ship to Australia (as far as I know, it's never been printed here).

You'll notice that all my books on Amazon are second hand, about twenty years old and cost about 50c. I don't know why. Maybe I peaked in my twenties. I've written and published a few books since then, but they've not made it to Amazon. Maybe if I come back in twenty years time I'll find them listed here.