Eclectic and impassioned, a collection that affirms the power of the written word.' – ObserverThe Boy Behind the Curtain is a portrait of a life, a place and a man. In this deeply personal collection of true stories and essays Tim Winton shows how moments from his childhood and life growing up have shaped his views on class, faith, fundamentalism, the environment, and – most pressingly – how all his experiences have made him a writer. From unexpected links between car crashes and faith, surfing and writing, to the story of his upbringing in the changing Australian landscape, The Boy Behind the Curtain is an impassioned, funny, joyous, astonishing collection of memories, and Winton's most personal book to date.

Eclectic and impassioned, it is a collection that affirms the power of the written word and Winton’s mastery of it, One of Australia’s best-loved novelists. Melancholy but humorous, lyrical but boisterous . . . will delight eventhose unfamiliar with his fiction, One of the greatest writers ever to emerge from Down Under . . . this is a real memoir – a book that grabs you by the scruff and forces you to take a good, hard look into the author’s soul. Compelling, unflinching and true, it’s surely the definitive statement on Winton the man, The bard of the beach-front, I love Tim Winton's writing, and this treasure trove of autobiographical stories and essays is packed with enthralling insights into his life and work

Tim Winton has published twenty-six books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Since his first novel, An Open Swimmer, won the Australian/Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music). He lives in Western Australia.