Bloke by Paul Freeman

Bloke is set in rural and outback Australia.  The book takes us through a day of men in their work locations until dusk, from shearing sheds to cattle yards in the morning to mechanic shops in the midday heat , truck stops and depots in the late afternoon and at sunset, we escape with the men into the cooling bushland for a swim in the river.  Paul revisits themes from both the Outback and Larrikin series, creating a sensual heroic story out of stoicism and camaraderie in the isolation of the vast and lonely outback. To encapsulate some of the romance of the themes, we asked an artificial intelligence program to write a poem in the style of Australian poet, Banjo Patterson, who wrote of men in the outback in the late nineteenth century. Of course the virtual 'poet' was prompted and directed in terms of the books content: There once was a bloke from farming's domain, with mates who shared labour, a hardworking train. Mechanics they were, on that sprawling estate, amidst old trucks they