The Last Wilkie's

Temper trantrums, doomed relationships, failed businesses, Magellan&apos;s crew and house-hunting… This is, at first glance, a quite disparate collection of stories. The settings range from New York, Texas and San Francisco to Sydney, Lismore and Malaysia. The characters vary in age from three years old in &apos;Rights of Man&apos; to nonagenarians in &apos;Shady Oaks.&apos; And yet this varied assemblage of work is unified by core themes that speak to us all: the search for one&apos;s place in the world, failed attempts to connect with other people and lofty aspirations not acted upon.<br /> <br />&apos;The Last Wilkie&apos;s and Other Stories is a quirky collection of short stories that are by turns funny, dark and troubling. Effortless to read, these stories are laced with a quick, sardonic wit that pokes fun at the life narratives we so earnestly attempt to create.&apos; – BOOKS+PUBLISHING<br /> <br />&apos;Jon Steiner&apos;s writing manages to articulate last night&apos;s forgotten dreams.&apos; – MIKE TOPP, Sasquatch Stories<br /> <br />&apos;Jon Steiner&apos;s brilliant and innovative short story collection veers from surreal to hilarious to disturbing to touching and back again. The Last Wilkie&apos;s and Other Stories is the kind of adventurous, unpredictable, unclassifiable short story collection that Australian short fiction needs more of.&apos; – RYAN O&apos;NEILL, The Weight of a Human Heart<br /> <br /><b>JON STEINER</b> is a writer and screenwriter who lives in Sydney. An American by birth, he migrated to Australia in 2000. His work has appeared in the <i>UTS Writers&apos; Anthology</i> and two Spineless Wonders productions, <i>Escape </i>and <i>Little Fictions</i>.