Never underestimate the power of idle curiosity. In fact, I have long read David Malouf almost exclusively among Australian writers (I am not a fan--yet, I suppose--of Mr. Murnane). I recall seeing somewhere that Stow is well-regarded and this is among his better books. And then, of course, I happened to find it in a used bookstore. The rest, as they say, is history.
What's intriguing to me is that, as opposed to (say) Malouf, his writing is more..."Australian"--by which I mean he seems to use syntax and even vocabulary that is distinctly different from American usage. I am more familiar, I guess, with British English than I am with Australian English and so I often find myself having to pause briefly and parse out just what he might mean. For whatever reason, it's an issue I have only rarely encountered with Malouf. Still, it's been an interesting read so far, though I'm only a couple chapters in.