A classic among Australian autobiographies, The Watcher on the Cast-Iron Balcony is Hal Porter's masterpiece. Recreating the rhythms of small-town life between the wars, it covers the author's first two decades. From the sensuality of his early boyhood experiences, Porter travels ever-observantly through his Bairnsdale school years to his first job as a cadet reporter. The shock of his mother's death, however, disturbs the pattern of his new adventures as a teacher, art student and actor in Melbourne.