The Short Story Cycles of Frank Moorhouse

Abstract

Doubtless it is in the nature of Moorhouse's work itself to beget diversifying commentary which does not press a (single) argument home. Its variety of tone and style, its multiplicity of observation, are found equally, if not more, fascinating than the structural experiment. The overall arrangement of form, once noted by the critic, is inclined to disappear within the various kinds of other discourse which have been triggered. My present purpose is to argue that there is, in seven of the eight Moorhouse collections, a 'closed' aspect which suggests that it is more accurate to describe them as developments of the short story cycle rather than as 'discontinuous narratives'.