There is no novel in all of Australian literature that is quite comparable to The Plains. A nameless young man arrives on the plains'' and begins to document the strange and rich culture of the plains families, with intention of producing a film. As his story unfolds, the novel becomes, in the words of Murray Bail, ''a mirage of landscape, memory, love and literature itself''. The vast, incomprehensible landscape of Australia becomes not a tangible place but an abstract and mythological concept. Published in 1982, this haunting novel has earned its status as a classic.''