Christos Tsiolkas

That's a really good question, Cassie, because I would say to you in response that I do remember when I made the decision to read all the novels that part of that decision was to leave Flaws in the Glass and to leave the Marr biography right till the end because I thought I'm going to –

I'm going to try and, what I wanted to do was read the man's work, you know, not to read his life, read the work and see what the work gave me.

I'm really grateful for Mars Biography because once you fall in love with white, and I've fallen in love with white, then the biography gives you this immense wealth of detail.

This kind of, it feels, it's a joy itself to read after the experience of having fallen in love with white.

But for me, I would suggest that you start with white and then get to the biography and then get to the flaws in the glass as well, which is a witty and caustic and terrific bit of writing.

But it's also, I don't think, the full story.

It never is the full story when we writers tell our biographies.

I'm going to say The Tree of Man because it's where I return to him.

And I think The Tree of Man is a novel that you just don't pick up lazily or easily.

But I think within a few pages of that book, you are so, you're in the world.

Reading it is like reading one of the great Russian novels.

So I would say The Tree of Man is where you begin or The Eye of the Storm, which is a great piece of writing.

It's one of the great satires of Australian life, but it's also a wonderful saga of family life.

If I had to choose between the novels, those are the two that I would direct you to.

Absolute pleasure.

Thank you.