COVER PAGE

Praise for Bluebird

‘Bluebird is engrossing: a sharp-witted and exact satire about our contemporary world and our contemporary families. Yet the satire is never smug and the characters never lose their complexity or their individuality. Malcolm Knox’s writing now has such confidence and clarity that he is exhilarating to read. He’s a maestro, and I didn’t want Bluebird to end.’ Christos Tsiolkas, author of Damascus and The Slap

‘Malcolm Knox is in scathing top form with this brutal takedown of white male nostalgia, real-estate greed, wasted privilege and bronzed-Aussie delusion.

‘Gordon’s an unlikely hero, trapped in the collapsing halfway house of his marriage, his elderly father’s crumbling tyranny, loyalty to his abysmal friends—and the toppling Lodge, the symbol of everything he can’t bear to lose. The novel perfectly skewers the hypocrisy, racism, class warfare and misogyny at work in the power-plays of ageing surfside gladiators, clinging to their personal and communal mythologies of an Australia that no longer exists, if it ever did. It’s a mark of Knox’s supreme skill that he can render his protagonist’s failures with such ruthless clarity, yet somehow elicit such genuine sympathy that I found myself desperate for Gordon, urging him on to step up, and save himself.

‘Filled with biting observations about our culture and our families so starkly insightful they make you gasp and read them out loud, Bluebird showcases Knox’s dexterity as a satirist more savagely astute than ever.’ Charlotte Wood, author of The Weekend

Praise for The Wonder Lover

‘A strange and beautiful creation. It reveals Knox to be an author of a controlled virtuosity with few peers in this country. Indeed, along with 2011’s The Life, it marks a considerable leap in Knox’s formal ambition: an evolution thrilling to watch unfold.’ The Saturday Paper

‘Malcolm Knox has established himself as one of the most ambitious and exciting fiction writers at work in Australia. It is a testament to Knox’s talent and creativity that we remain, throughout, excited by the ambition and potential of this novel. We marvel at this writer who stretches himself, and for that reason we read much of The Wonder Lover in awe of its creator’s inventiveness.’ Australian Book Review

‘This is one of the big books of the year. You know that phrase that critics use about a writer at the peak of his powers? Well, this is the time to apply that to Knox, who has been one of our most significant writers mining aspects of contemporary masculinity for a while in novels like Summerland and The Life.’ Caroline Baum, Booktopia

‘Malcolm Knox has … made a speciality of interpreting the lives and emotions of men … Genuinely original and intriguing.’ Katharine England, Adelaide Advertiser

‘Few authors have such a sharp eye—or stylish pen—for the secret lives of men.’ Jennifer Byrne, Australian Women’s Weekly