Oceanian & Australasians Peoples - Fiction & Literature, Settings & Atmosphere - Fiction, Oceanian & Australasian Fiction, Politics & Social Issues - Fiction, Phases of Life - Fiction, Literary Styles & Movements - Fiction
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Overview
Brought back to Australia by the death of his father, Dante is sorting through hisfather's belonging when he comes across a photograph of Johnno, a long-time friend. The photograph stirs up a lifetime of memories for Dante, leading him to finally set Johnno's story--which has haunted him for years--on paper. An outrageous character of legendary proportions, Johnno is brought top life in all his complexity, beginning with his days at Brisbane Grammar School, when he and Dante first become friends, to the days they spend together in Paris, Johnno's inexplicable rages and periodic transformations are recounted until we come to know him--without ever quite understanding him. Daring, impossible, and unpredictable, Johnno is a fascinating character. His shocking behavior awes some, annoys others, and provokes a good many more. Above all, though, he is thoroughly unforgettable.Editorials
Washington Post
David Malouf is a richly imaginative writer, philosophical and literary in the best sense.Library Journal
LJ's reviewer did not find this "wholly successful" but did dub it "a readable, affecting novel" (LJ 10/1/78). Set in Australia in the 1940s and 1950s, Malouf's debut effort follows the life of the ne'er-do-well title character as seen through the eyes of an old friend. Malouf won the first International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996 for Remembering Babylon (LJ 8/93).Washington Post
David Malouf is a richly imaginative writer, philosophical and literary in the best sense.New York Times Book Review
The author's first novel, now restored to print, is the autobiographical tale of a postwar boyhood friendship. Seymour Epstein, called the book "a fine, haunting first novel." -- New York Times Book ReviewBook Details
Published
March 1, 1998
Publisher
George Braziller
Pages
170
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780807614297