This work is a collection of fictional observations by the narrator as he travels around the countryside of southern New South Wales and Victoria in the 1880s. He presents the life of the various rural dwellers, including bullock drivers, squatters and itinerant travelers, and also attempts to convey the accents of Irish, Scottish and Chinese personalities he encounters. This tale provides insight into the stories and hardships of rural dwellers in Australia in the latter half of the nineteenth century, as well as the narrator's own philosophy of life. The original huge manuscript (1897) of Such Is Life, Being Certain Extracts from the Diary of Tom Collins, was sent to A. G. Stephens of the Bulletin. Stephens realised the merit of the text but knew it was impracticable to publish, so returned it to Furphy. Parts of the text were released in various forms, but the first complete edition was not published until 1946. Joseph Furphy, however, had died at Claremont on 13th of September 1912.
