Author who has never been on a plane could soon be Australia's second Nobel laureate

In his cafe in the sleepy western Victorian town of Goroke, Joe D’Andrea is flipping burgers for the lunchtime crowd.In between feeding the masses, he helps direct the tourists who come to town in search of Goroke’s most famous resident, 85-year-old writer Gerald Murnane.”Sometimes, if he’s in the men’s shed, I send them over the road to go and find him,” Mr D’Andrea said.”I don’t direct anyone to his house. If he’s over the road, well, that’s as far as I direct them.”Joe D’Andrea with daughter, Vittoria, in their shop in Goroke. (ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Emile Pavlich)If Murnane is named as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday evening, as some punters are tipping, then the tiny town of Goroke, population 295, can expect plenty more “Murnanophiles” to come and visit.Many and varied eccentricitiesFor a decade, Murnane’s name has been bandied about as a future Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. An online betting agency has him as the equal third favourite to win…