{"product_id":"a-suitable-man-the-eccentric-empire-of-fletcher-jones-9781460767177","title":"A Suitable Man: The Eccentric Empire of Fletcher Jones","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e'In 1924, into the tiny town of Warrnambool, which then had a population of a fraction under 4000 people, there came a travelling salesman...'  \u003c\/em\u003eAustralians of a certain generation all know Fletcher Jones - the stores, the clothing, the daggy dad slacks - but not many people know the extraordinary story of the man who founded the store.  \u003cem\u003eA Suitable Man\u003c\/em\u003e tells the remarkable life and achievements of Fletcher Jones.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003eMany Australians know of Fletcher Jones - the stores, the clothing, the daggy dad slacks - but few know the extraordinary man behind it all.  David Fletcher Jones was an autodidact, a wanderer and dreamer who became a visionary businessman and social entrepreneur. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis rise was unlikely. The stammering, motherless son of an impoverished Bendigo blacksmith, he left school at thirteen and ended WWI buried alive by a shell explosion in France.  Despite the horrors of war, he never lost his humour, optimism or deep regard for people. After an epiphany in the veteran's dole queue, he decided to become master of his destiny.  He began as a travelling salesman in the Western District before opening a tailor's shop. Business boomed. Later, he bought five acres outside Warrnambool for his factory and put a sign over the front: 'Fletcher Jones and Staff'. Because not only was Fletcher Jones revolutionising menswear with his ready-to-wear trousers, but remarkably, his manufacturing and retail empire was founded on profit-sharing and staff ownership.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis life is a fascinating reflection of Australia's twentieth century progress across social policy, immigration, manufacturing, the city and country divide, the rise and fall of wool.  But most important, perhaps, is what we can learn from his fundamental human decency and his determination to run an enterprise for profit while seeking to do good at individual and societal levels. There are lessons for us all in a life like Fletcher's.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Everyone knows the name, but no-one knew the story - until this fresh, sprightly and immensely readable biography.' Gideon  Haigh\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'In \u003cem\u003eA Suitable Man\u003c\/em\u003e, Jock Serong deftly unpacks the enigmatic and legendary figure of Fletcher Jones ... and surprises and humanises a boss with 'a desk in the middle of the shop floor'.' Shane Howard \u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781460767177\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 464\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 01 Sep 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: New South Wales, Australia\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 23.6(H)x15.6(L)x3.8(W)394\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 394\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eJock Serong is the author of Quota, winner of the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction; The Rules of Backyard Cricket, shortlisted for the 2017 Victorian Premier's Award for Fiction, finalist of the 2017 MWA Edgar Awards for Best Paperback Original, and finalist of the 2017 Indie Book Awards Adult Mystery Book of the Year; and On the Java Ridge, which won the Colin Roderick Award and, internationally, the inaugural Staunch Prize (UK), and was shortlisted for the 2018 Indie Awards. He has won praise for his trilogy of historical novels Preservation; The Burning Island, which earned him the ARA Historical Novel Prize and the Historia Award for Historical Crime Fiction (France); and The Settlement, which was shortlisted for the Voss Prize and the ARA Historical Novel Prize.  His most recent novel, Cherrywood, was shortlisted for both the 2025 Indie Book Awards and the 2025 ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e","brand":"Jock Serong","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49241059557593,"sku":"9781460767177","price":36.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9781460767177.jpg?v=1789264381","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/a-suitable-man-the-eccentric-empire-of-fletcher-jones-9781460767177","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}