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In FamilyTrees Michael Farrell continues to question how humans relate -- toeach other, and to the nonhuman, the worlds of animals, plants and objects.Inheritance can be a heavy legacy but in Farrell's expansive rendering it freesitself: how do we connect? Through affection, and through sharing, swapping andlistening.  Family Trees sees the return of familiar characterssuch as Pope Pinocchio, alongside new figures Lord Marmalade, Cherry the 'KiamaScammer' and Adam, a paranoid country English teacher. Presented in film-likescenarios, Farrell's characters are often busily thinking, while alsoparticipating in more mundane forms of activity -- gossip and sleep and work.The book includes a number of South Coast poems that take a poking interest inhow language blooms off-track. It's about memory, fantasy and the possibilitiesof living in conceptual space. Anything that has roots can be a family tree. 'Endless, rascally contortions. Read them boldly as anarchaeologist...but stay quietly aware that the texts are already affecting yourcognitive frame, turning you into their accomplice in the renewing of language.' --Sydney Review of Books