‘The Tasmanian landscape and a whole host of engaging, charming and well drawn characters populate the stories... a thought provoking collection.’ The Au Review
‘Piercing. At times funny. Real. Raw. Straight up truth. Stories that urge the reader to reflect, to look inward. .. This book is a gift.’ Blackfulla Bookclub
‘Raw and at times dark; delightful, mysterious and unsettling ... polished and bloody funny.’ Koori Mail
‘This remarkable debut crackles with wit and rage - as entertaining and affecting as it is thought-provoking.’ Stella Charls, Readings
‘This collection of Indigenous resistance, triumph and joy stands alongside millions of stories throughout this country, first spoken, then written, since time immemorial.’ Kill your Darlings
‘Some stories are morbidly comic while others cut deep, conveying the absurdity and despair of Indigenous experiences of settler-colonialism across Tasmania.’ The Saturday Paper
‘The collection's 16 tightly written stories thrum with anger and wry humour as they tackle themes of racism, identity and individual's relationships to the changing natural world.’ The West Australian
‘Adam Thompson manages to bring humour, pathos and occasionally a sly twist as his characters confront racism, untimely funerals, classroom politics and, overhanging all like a discomforting, burgeoning awareness for both white and black Australia, the inexorable damage and disappearance of the remnant natural world.’ Better Reading
‘With Born into This, Adam Thompson's stories of present-day Tasmania provide a powerful response to trauma that dates from the horrors of the Black War and continues with ongoing 'celebrations' of Australia/Invasion Day. The author has much to say.’ Australian Book Review
Melissa Lucashenko - ‘A compelling new voice, tough yet tender, from the heart of Aboriginal Tasmania’
Ellen van Neerven - ‘I knew from the first page that Born Into This was going to be something special. Adam Thompson is a world-class writer whose stories strike like lightning.’
Tara June Winch - ‘Born Into This is drenched in swagger and originality, the blows are head-on, but the comfort is swiftly delivered in the wit and delicacy of Thompson’s phrasing. He has the reader in the boat, on the shore and drowning in the sea at once.’
Tony Birch - ‘Adam Thompson’s debut collection of short stories, Born Into This, delivers refreshing and vital reading. The lives of the characters within these pages provide an honest, humorous and occasionally raw insight into the experiences of living in a country, and on Country, both shared and in contest. Thompson is a writer who knows that the way to our hearts and heads is through powerful storytelling. He delivers on every page, with each word.’
Kate Gordon - ‘Adam is the next Winton/Flanagan/Tsiolkas (while being unarguably his own unique thing).’
Michael Williams, Sydney Writers' Festival - ‘Funny, tender, thoughtful and original, Thompson is one to watch out for.’
Evelyn Araluen - ‘It's beautiful to read such intimate and familiar representations of lutruwita - a place too often rendered as haunting and gothic in the history of Australian literature. These stories cover themes of family, activism, intimacy and identity. I know it's going to be one of those books that is read really widely for years to come.
