Hunting the Wild Pineapple

Hunting the Wild Pineapple (1979) is a collection of short stories by Australian writer Thea Astley. It was published in paperback by Nelson Publishers in Sydney in 1979.

The collection includes 8 original stories by the author.

Synopsis
The 8 stories in this collection are all narrated by Leverson who has been seduced by North Queensland's beauty and strangeness. He observed both southern imports, as well as long-term Queensland residents, equally.

Critical reception
Lyn Frost, writing in The Canberra Times noted that the collection "gives an award-winning Australian author full rein. Astley, a Queenslander, has returned there to write and discovered a whole new population...Astley conveys 'a lot of sad poetry' and humour about the place which is 'a kind of carpet-bagger's paradise'."

Publication history
The collection was also published as follows:


 * Penguin, Australia, 1981
 * G. P. Putnam's Sons, USA, 1991

Awards
The collection won the Colin Roderick Award in 1979.