The Tall Man
Death and Life on Palm Island
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Published:7th Jan '10
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

'A powerful non-fiction novel in the tradition of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood' - Sunday Telegraph
When Cameron Doomadgee, a 36-year-old member of the Aboriginal community of Palm Island, was arrested for swearing at a white police officer, he was dead within forty-five minutes of being locked up.
When Cameron Doomadgee, a 36-year-old member of the Aboriginal community of Palm Island, was arrested for swearing at a white police officer, he was dead within forty-five minutes of being locked up. The police claimed he'd tripped on a step, but the pathologist likened his injuries to those received in a plane crash. The main suspect was the handsome, charismatic Senior Sergeant Christopher Hurley, an experienced cop with decorations for his work.
In following Hurley's trail to some of the wildest and most remote parts of Australia, Chloe Hooper explores Aboriginal myths and history and uncovers buried secrets of white mischief. Atmospheric, gritty and original, The Tall Man takes readers to the heart of a struggle for power, revenge and justice.
Chloe Hooper's masterful book of reportage is a kind of moral thriller about power, wretchedness and violence * Philip Roth *
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this book -- Peter Carey
Hooper fills in the background with a light touch.... She instinctively grasps the most telling detail... This is a brilliant vignette in which one appalling incident illuminates a saga of social breakdown -- Sara Wheeler * The Times *
Queensland's police force - along with its tourist board - won't thank Hooper for The Tall Man, but the rest of us should. This meticulous, compelling portrayal of the dark side of Australian life deserves the widest possible audience * Sunday Times *
An important, brilliant, perceptive book * Literary Review *
Has already drawn comparisons with some of the best of that often derided genre, true crime, and it fully deserves the attention...this gracefully nuanced book is as much about the world in which a death takes place as the nature of death itself * Guardian *
Povocative and visceral -- Barry Forshaw * The Times *
This compelling portrait of the dark side of life down under deserves to be widely read -- Brian Schofield * Sunday Times *
So sharply self-aware, laser-precise in its observation, so brutal, and still so tender. It's a masterpiece: true crime writing where Hooper takes no prisoners -- Skye Arundhati Thomas * White Review, *Books of the Year* *
- Winner of NSW Premier's Literary Award Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction 2009
- Short-listed for ABIA Australian General Non-fiction Book of the Year 2009
ISBN: 9780099520764
Dimensions: 216mm x 135mm x 20mm
Weight: 272g
272 pages