David Walsh – the creator of Mona in Hobart – is both a giant and an enigma in the Australian art world. Now his unconventional and absorbing memoir.

A Bone of Fact

David Walsh

 RRP $60.00, Hardback - Macmillan

David Walsh – the creator of Mona in Hobart – is both a giant and an enigma in the Australian art world. This is his unconventional and absorbing memoir.

A multi-millionaire who made his money gambling, David has turned a wild vision into a unique reality; he is in turns controversial, mysterious and idolised.

‘By some great good fortune (mine, not yours) you hold in your hands my story, credible I think, but not extraordinary (despite what those avaricious publishers might have you believe). I have captured your attention: maybe you have some resonance with Mona, or maybe good graphical design partly seized your day. To extract bucks from you I need to say something clever, but I can't think of anything. So I'll seduce you with a tale of another, cleverer, writer.

‘Stanislaw Lem, noted Polish science fiction author and notorious smartarse, once told an American colleague that his new collection of short stories would be published in a paper bag. This conjured a mental picture of the stories being selected by lucky dip. The idea that my life story could be told that way, without a disabling manifesto, is appealing.

‘Unfortunately Mr Lem had actually said “paperback” (his meaning concealed beneath his thick accent), a wholly ordinary practice to deliver extraordinary stories. My story lacks Mr Lem's magical reality and philosophy, and it also lacks a paper bag.’