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ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Luke Carman's debut fiction is like a russian doll. You open it and inside you find another Luke Carman. This is fiction, or perhaps 'faction' - fiction based around things that may or may not have happened. "Write what you know" they say and Luke has written this episodic, slice of life, from the viewpoint of a young man named Luke Carman growing up in Sydney's hot and dusty western suburbs – an 'elegant' young man in the making, impressionable and impressed upon by family, friends and other randoms (as my niece might express it).
Those familiar with the streets, parks and landmarks of the west will nod and smile knowingly as they appear in the narrative. The writing is quite cinematic and the episodes would translate well to a good Sunday arvo film. It's a diverse excursion. Luke gets a gun at his temple, we go wrestling with Luke and even Christopher Hitchens makes an (unrelated) appearance. It's definitely one to read again after a short break.
When Luke called by Abbey's, I expressed my wish that he expand to longer novels (this is a short novel). He was very non-committal, saying he is quite enamoured of the short format. But hopefully I have planted the seed…
For a long time Western Sydney has been the political flash-point of the nation, but it has been absent from Australian literature. Luke Carman’s first book of fiction is about to change all that: a collection of monologues and stories which tells it how it is on Australia’s cultural frontier. His young, self-conscious but determined hero navigates his way through the complications of his divorced family, and an often perilous social world, with its Fobs, Lebbos, Greek, Serbs, Grubby Boys and scumbag Aussies, friends and enemies. He loves Whitman and Kerouac, Leonard Cohen and Henry Rollins, is awkward with girls, and has an imaginary friend called Tom. His sensitivity in a tough environment makes life difficult for him – he is anything but an elegant young man. Carman’s style is packed with thought and energy: it captures the voices of the street, and conveys fear and anger, beauty and affection, with a restless intensity.
ABOUT LUKE
Luke Carman self-identifies as an anti-folk monologist working in epi-grammatical short fiction. He hails from the Sydney suburb of Liverpool and his work has haunted the journals HEAT, Westside and Cultural Studies Review.
By:
Luke Carman Imprint: Giramondo Publishing Country of Publication: Australia Dimensions:
Height: 150mm,
Width: 170mm,
ISBN:9781922146458 ISBN 10: 1922146455 Publication Date:01 November 2013 Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format:Paperback Publisher's Status: Active
Reviews for An Elegant Young Man
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Luke Carman's debut fiction is like a russian doll. You open it and inside you find another Luke Carman. This is fiction, or perhaps 'faction' - fiction based around things that may or may not have happened. "Write what you know" they say and Luke has written this episodic, slice of life, from the viewpoint of a young man named Luke Carman growing up in Sydney's hot and dusty western suburbs – an 'elegant' young man in the making, impressionable and impressed upon by family, friends and other randoms (as my niece might express it).
Those familiar with the streets, parks and landmarks of the west will nod and smile knowingly as they appear in the narrative. The writing is quite cinematic and the episodes would translate well to a good Sunday arvo film. It's a diverse excursion. Luke gets a gun at his temple, we go wrestling with Luke and even Christopher Hitchens makes an (unrelated) appearance. It's definitely one to read again after a short break.
When Luke called by Abbey's, I expressed my wish that he expand to longer novels (this is a short novel). He was very non-committal, saying he is quite enamoured of the short format. But hopefully I have planted the seed…
