The Electrical Experience

T. George McDowell believes in getting the job done.

T. George McDowell believes in getting the job done.

‘I do not care for words in top hats. I believe in shirt-sleeve words. I believe in getting the job done. We’re like that on the coast.’

T. George McDowell, a manufacturer of soft drinks on the south coast of New South Wales, prides himself on extolling the virtues of progress. He is a Rotarian and exponent of wireless, refrigeration and electricity. He is a Realist and a Rationalist - a ‘fair man but hard as nails’ according to his staff - but trouble in the shape of his youngest daughter, Terri, tests his values and beliefs, and he finds that his own sexual longings begin to intrude in his dreams.

First published in 1974, The Electrical Experience is an at times humorous examination of the Australian soul, and won the National Book Council Award for Fiction.