Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers

by Ryan O'Neill | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 1785630679 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingLadyIndigowing of Orange, New South Wales Australia on 2/20/2018
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3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingLadyIndigowing from Orange, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Across 16 biographies of fictional authors, Ryan O'Neill invites the reader to laugh at the failings and revel in the excesses of some of Australia's greatest writers.

In doing so, he has crafted a neat critique of our real history.

This series of short biographies is slowly revealed as a linked collection of stories, giving up their secrets to the attentive reader. But while those with a degree in literature will probably get more out of the book, that's never at the cost of the story, and there's a playful humour that will keep even the most casual reader engaged.

Some jokes have an immediate pay-off; others take the entire book to reach the punchline, but are worth the wait.

From bush poetry to the history wars, O'Neill pushes the slightly absurd to its extreme limits. But it's his clear fondness for the authors and the literature that he references, that makes the book a success.

Journal Entry 2 by wingLadyIndigowing at Orange, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Winner of the 2017 Prime Minister's Literary Award for fiction
Shortlisted for the 2017 Miles Franklin Literary Award

Ryan O’Neill has written a hilarious novel in the guise of sixteen biographies of (invented) Australian writers. Meet Rand Washington, hugely popular science fiction author (of Whiteman of Cor) and holder of extreme views on race and gender. Meet Rachel Deverall, who discovers the secret female source of the great literature of our time – and pays a terrible price for her discovery. Their Brilliant Careers is a playful set of stories, linked in many ways, which together form a memorable whole.

About the Author

Ryan O'Neill is the author of The Weight of a Human Heart. He was born in Glasgow in 1975 and has lived in Africa, Europe and Asia before settling in Newcastle, Australia, with his wife and two daughters. His fiction has appeared in The Best Australian Stories, The Sleepers Almanac, Meanjin, New Australian Stories, Wet Ink, Etchings and Westerly. His work has won the Hal Porter and Roland Robinson awards and been shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Steele Rudd Award and the Age Short-Story Prize. He teaches at the University of Newcastle.

Journal Entry 3 by wingLadyIndigowing at Orange, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, February 20, 2018
a promised read for amberc .. a little later than i expected to send it

happy reading

;)

Journal Entry 4 by wingLadyIndigowing at In Memory of Oppem, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Released 6 yrs ago (2/23/2018 UTC) at In Memory of Oppem, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

i think oppem would have enjoyed this quirky book of stories

happy reading
;)

Journal Entry 5 by amberC at Darwin, Northern Territory Australia on Wednesday, March 7, 2018
This sounds interesting. Thank you.

Journal Entry 6 by amberC at Darwin, Northern Territory Australia on Sunday, February 13, 2022
Entertaining and amusing, but I found my attention and interest wasn't held all the way through.

Journal Entry 7 by amberC at Darwin, Northern Territory Australia on Friday, June 3, 2022

Released 1 yr ago (6/3/2022 UTC) at Darwin, Northern Territory Australia

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

RABCK with a wishlist tag.

Journal Entry 8 by wingjeniwrenwing at Greigs Flat, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Received as an extra with Wishlist tag. This is a favourite of mine and will pass onto another reader in my bookgroup who is also a bookcrosser.

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