SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2014 CHRISTINA STEAD PRIZE FOR FICTION IN THE NSW PREMIER'S LITERARY AWARDSLONGLISTED FOR THE 2014 KIBBLE LITERARY AWARDIn these thirteen short stories, Georgia Blain examines human nature in all its richness: our motivations, our desires and our shortcomings. The men in these tales frequently linger at the edges - their longings and failures exerting a subterranean pull on the women in their lives. In 'The Secret Lives of Men', a woman revisits her hometown and learns a long-held secret about her first boyfriend. In 'The Bad Dog Park', a man's devotion to his dog ultimately forces him to confront his true hopes and fears. And in 'The Other Side of the River', we watch as a woman makes a snap decision about her life's future direction, with devastating consequences for her family. Written in Blain's trademark unadorned yet powerful prose, these stories resonate long after they are finished. The Secret Lives of Men is an exceptional collection by one of Australia's leading writers.PRAISE FOR GEORGIA BLAIN'[A] skilled, disenchanted reckoning of the way we live now.' The Saturday Age'Richly imagined characters told with lovely restraint. The authenticity of the writing is such that you feel you are standing in the shoes of these characters whose lives are at a particularly intense point' The Herald Sun