In this provocative and wide-ranging collection of stories, Angelo Loukakis set the bar for a generation of Australian writers to come. These finely crafted and sensitive fictional explorations of lives led on the outer or on the edge continue to challenge cherished myths and expectations - in literature and life. Acknowledged as a pioneering author, Loukakis' work in For the Patriarch remains critical to the growth of a more expansive and aware Australian literary culture whose writers now include names such as Beth Yahp, Nam Le and Christos Tsiolkas.