ANZ LitLovers LitBlog

Yesterday afternoon I was in the mood for some bookshop browsing, so it seemed like the stars were aligned when the Readings Monthly catalogue advertised a book that I wanted and a book launch that didn’t require me to book in advance. Crucially, it was at their Hawthorn store which is a breeze to get to, with none of the crowds and parking hassles of the Carlton store.  (It is not strictly speaking relevant to these justifications that I’ve already spent about $100 on books from Readings this month.  There was one book more that I needed).

So I bought the book (Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia edited by Anita Heiss), to put aside for Indigenous Literature Week in July.  I had to buy it now because Readings is donating $2 of every copy sold to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, but only till May 31st.  That done, I had a super crisp and crunchy baguette at the Laurent Boulangerie Patisserie next door, and then went back to Readings for the launch of Relatively Famous by Roger Averill.  (Averill also wrote the award-winning Exile, the Lives and Hopes of Werner Pelz which I reviewed here). I enjoyed a quick bit of gossip with Barry Scott from Transit Lounge, and then settled down to wait with a book (Little Gods, by Jenny Ackland.) 

After a brief intro by Barry, (who is a national treasure IMO because he is so good at publishing books that I like) Relatively Famous was launched byAverill’s friend and former colleague Tony Thompson. He had a droll take on the university where they had both worked, explaining that Averill has returned to fiction because the university had (to put it kindly) a fictional view of itself.  He also said that the Averill is no cynic, and he had in this book, achieved the difficult art of writing about fame and celebrity without either trashing or idealising it.

The book asks the question: how would you feel if your own life was always a footnote in the life of a famous father?  This is the blurb for the book:

Michael and Marjorie Madigan refuse to be interviewed by biographer Sinclair Hughes for his new book Inside the Lion’s Den: The Literary Life of Gilbert Madigan. This is not surprising as Gilbert is Marjorie’s ex-husband and Michael’s mostly absent father. He is also Australia’s first Booker Prize winner, a feted and much lauded author that the U.K. and U.S. now like to call their own. Michael cannot escape his father’s life and work, and at times his own life seems swallowed by it. His father’s success is a source of undeniable pleasure but also of great turmoil. In a world that increasingly covets fame and celebrity, Relatively Famous subtly explores notions of success, masculinity, betrayal and loss, and ultimately what it might mean to live a good life.

Tony Thompson said he hopes the book will be taken seriously because it raises issues that need to be discussed.   Roger Averill, who is not a fan of social media, asked us to imagine parents not having time for their children because they’re always too busy updating their online profiles.  It bothers me a lot, too, that I see so many parents fussing with their phones instead of talking with their children.  At cafés, in parks, on public transport, just everywhere.  At least, Averill said, his character’s absorption in fame derives from being a good writer…

Which reminds me, dear readers.  I have abandoned Facebook. I am sick of dealing with messages from my friends that turn out to be hacks, I am sick of them manipulating my newsfeed, and I don’t like Facebook’s ethics.  I haven’t removed my page there yet but I’m no longer posting there and I’ll be shutting it down completely soon.  So if you don’t want to miss out on notifications of new content here, please subscribe either by RSS or email, or follow me on Twitter @ANZLitLovers. If you want to contact me, use the contact form on the About page…

Author: Roger Averill
Title: Relatively Famous
Publisher: Transit Lounge, 2018
ISBN: 9780995409897
Review copy on the TBR courtesy of Transit Lounge

Available from Fishpond: Relatively Famous or direct from Transit Lounge.