The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island [Paperback]

Chloe Hooper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2008

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.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Chloe Hooper's masterful book of reportage is a kind of moral thriller about power, wretchedness and violence It is impossible to overestimate the importance of this book. 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 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 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Chloe Hooper was born in 1973. Her highly praised first novel, A Child's Book of True Crime (2002), was shortlisted for the Orange Prize. Her Observer article about the Doomadgee case, 'Island of Lost Souls', was shortlisted for the Amnesty International Media Awards. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton (December 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0241015375
• ISBN-13: 978-0241015377
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,049,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The black white dichtomy of Palm Island, July 6, 2010

By 

Kenneth Walter Simpson - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island (Paperback)

Chloe Hooper has written a hauntingly beautful, but tragically true drama of brutality and death on Palm Island. It all began On a hot Friday in November 2004. A fit Cameron Doomadgee had been drinking an awful mixture of beer, plonk and methylated spirits. He was walking barefoot with some dogs near where Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, and an aboriginal Police Liaison Officer were patrolling in a van. According to Sergeant Hurley, Cameron Doomadgee made an offensive remark which resulted in Doomadgee's arrest. Thus began the dramatic events that led to the tragic and unnecessary death of Cameron Doomadgee, so eloquently described by Chloe Hooper, who immersed herself in the lives of everyone involved: the extended family of Cameron Doomadgee, their spirit and strengths despite feelings of injustice and resentment, the wide incidence of rape and sexual abuse, the emptines of the indigenous people's lives on Palm Island, and the terible effects of alcohol and drugs. The police, on the other hand, hated by the locals, lived in isolation behind barricades, and meted out white man's justice.

The conflicting and contradictory accounts of what actually happened between Sergeant Hurley and Cameron Doomadgee outside the concrete police cell, which led to the latter's tragic and unecessary death, are described in horrifyiing but fascinating detail - first the Coroner's Inquest, the riots, the controversial trials of The Tall Man, suspect police evidence, all leading to Hurley's eventual and controversial acquittal.The Learning Process: Some Creative Impressions