For more than fifty years--from the time of its republishing in 1944 by the Australian publisher Angus and Robertson--Joseph Furphy's Such Is Life (1903) has never been out of print. It is not an easy novel to read, and many of the philosophical issues it canvasses--socialism, free will and determinism, and the nature of life itself--are not the grist of popular fiction; nevertheless, it has always attracted committed and enthusiastic readers. Yet, like Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851) or even John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667), though Such Is Life is admired and owned by tens of thousands, it is not widely read. Originally written in the 1890s, it reflects the preoccupations of that time: contemporary capitalism, ardent Australian nationalism, the difficulties of pioneering pastoralism, and speculation about a future Australian civilization. It was instantly seen as a major example of the "radical nationalism" of the time and praised for its realistic representation of...