Helen Garner's Monkey Grip
Considered by many to be Australia’s first contemporary novel, 'Monkey Grip' published in 1977 heralded a revolutionary change on the Australian literary landscape. Based on Helen Garner’s diaries of her bohemian life in 1970’s inner city Melbourne, Monkey Grip is the voice of a generation. It is about a particular time and place when Australia was searching for its own artistic, political, and cultural identity. It's a much-loved classic of modern Australian literature and its story, and Helen Garner, is central to our cultural development.