 First edition | |
| Author | Chloe Hooper |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Non-fiction |
| Published | 2008 (Hamish Hamilton) |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 276 |
| Awards | Davitt Award |
| ISBN | 9780241015377 |
| OCLC | 247035554 |
The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island is a 2008 book by Chloe Hooper. It is about the events surrounding the death in custody of Aboriginal Australian man, Cameron Doomadgee. It won numerous awards and was shortlisted for many others in 2009.
The New York Times reviewing The Tall Man wrote "Hooper travels to remote settlements and reaches into prehistory in her effort to penetrate this fractured story, learning of song lines, of Hairy Man and Tall Man spirits (Hurley, at 6-foot-7, evokes the latter). And though there is no resolution, she makes of it all an extraordinary whole. “I had wanted to know more about my country,” she says at the end of the book, “and now I did — now I knew more than I wanted to.”" [5]
The Guardian noted "The Tall Man has already drawn comparisons with some of the best of that often derided genre, true crime, and it fully deserves the attention. Like Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and, more recently, Francisco Goldman's The Art of Political Murder, this gracefully nuanced book is as much about the world in which a death takes place as the nature of the death itself." [6] and The Sydney Morning Herald found it "a thoughtful, perceptive examination of an important Australian tragedy." [7]
The Tall Man has also been reviewed by The Daily Telegraph , [8] the Indigenous Law Bulletin , [9] The Globe and Mail , [10] the Australian Book Review [11] and Kirkus Reviews . [12]
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Hooper astutely points out that the war between the police and the Aboriginal community is something of a false battleground.
Hooper weaves a gripping and at times heart-wrenching tale in her portrayal of the events leading up to the arrest, eventual death of Mulrunji and the motorcade of social, legal and political battles which follow.
It's a haunting moral maze, described with such intimate observation and exquisite restraint that I kept pausing to take a breath and silently cheer the author. .. Chloe Hooper has more than done justice to a worthy story. She has produced an Australian classic.
Alternately poignant, powerful and ponderous—a worthwhile glimpse into a battered culture.