A collection of essays, written over the last ten years by Robyn Ferrell, who is now Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tasmania. This collection is for the general reader as well as the academic and student. In The Real Desire, the lenses of art, philosophy, sensuality, and the dreamscape invite us to explore the many guises of desire. A childhood interwoven with Aboriginal history, the banalities of buying real estate, discussion of lingerie, writers and writing, and feminist analysis of some of the great philosophers of the past. Robyn Ferrell has brought together in one volume: essays of discovery -- Pinjarra 1970; rites of passage -- Kingdom of God and Feminine Arts; disillusionment -- Paris Does Not Exist; and critical analysis -- Hemingway's Typewriter and Real Desire. Robyn combines the clarity of journalistic prose with the rigor of academic analysis. These essays are written for general interest as well as academic investigation.