image of person or book cover 6877477994764552133.jpg
Image courtesy of publisher's website.
y separately published work icon Late : A Novel single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2023... 2023 Late : A Novel
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'So, was it hard to pretend I was “dead”? Well, my motivation was abundant; it was splendiferous, endless, you might say.’

'An American actress, renowned for being late, is living with her two cats in a modernist clifftop apartment in Sydney in the late 1980s.

'The recounting of her story is prompted by the arrival of an old typewriter and a book addressed to Zelda Zonk. And by the arrival of a young man called Daniel, who is locked out while house-sitting her neighbour’s apartment.

'Together Zelda and Daniel form an unlikely but close bond as they go walking, prepare dinner for Shabbat, traverse Sydney Harbour on a ferry and talk about their lives. Part of their bond is the discovery that they are both orphans. Daniel is also a habitué of the nearby sandstone cliffs where men have mysteriously gone missing.

'In Late, Michael Fitzgerald superbly captures the literary spirit and sensibility of an ageing woman and icon who has escaped celebrity. It is a haunting and lyrical novel about art, friendship, and confronting our fears.' (Publication summary)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Yarraville, Footscray - Maribyrnong area, Melbourne - West, Melbourne, Victoria,: Transit Lounge , 2023 .
      image of person or book cover 6877477994764552133.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 208p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 1 October 2023
      ISBN: 9781923023024

Works about this Work

Book Review : Late, Michael Fitzgerald Ellie Fisher , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , October 2023;

— Review of Late : A Novel Michael Fitzgerald Page , 2023 single work novel

'A speculative 'what if?' novel inspired by Marilyn Monroe.'

Late Monroe : Michael Fitzgerald’s New Novel Tim Byrne , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 460 2023; (p. 40)

— Review of Late : A Novel Michael Fitzgerald Page , 2023 single work novel

'Michael Fitzgerald’s new novel, Late, opens with a camera obscura, a direct reference to Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin (1939). The image is a nifty one – a portrait projected across the Pacific Ocean, as well as across time itself – and it goes some way to signalling the author’s intentions: he wants to create a novel deliberately weighted by the creative works (films, books, art, and sculpture) that have come before and, for his protagonist – who in real life died on 4 August 1962 – those that have come since.' (Introduction)          

Michael Fitzgerald : Late Ann Skea , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , November 2023;

— Review of Late : A Novel Michael Fitzgerald Page , 2023 single work novel
'Evoking Sydney in the 1980s, Michael Fitzgerald’s third novel plays with ideas of identity, celebrity, and mortality.'
‘Ballsy’, ‘very Funny’, ‘read in One Sitting’ : The Best Australian Books Out in October Alyx Gorman , Imogen Dewey , Fiona Wright , Sian Cain , Lucy Clark , Yvonne C Lam , Janine Israel , Celina Ribeiro , Ben Doherty , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 4 October 2023;

— Review of Edenglassie Melissa Lucashenko , 2023 single work novel ; Stone Yard Devotional Charlotte Wood , 2023 single work novel ; Late : A Novel Michael Fitzgerald Page , 2023 single work novel ; Killing for Country : A Family Story David Marr , 2023 multi chapter work criticism ; Gunflower : Stories Laura Jean McKay , 2023 selected work short story ; The Man Who Wasn't There Dan Box , 2023 single work biography ; Home to Biloela Priya Nadesalingam , Rebekah Holt , 2023 single work autobiography
‘Ballsy’, ‘very Funny’, ‘read in One Sitting’ : The Best Australian Books Out in October Alyx Gorman , Imogen Dewey , Fiona Wright , Sian Cain , Lucy Clark , Yvonne C Lam , Janine Israel , Celina Ribeiro , Ben Doherty , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 4 October 2023;

— Review of Edenglassie Melissa Lucashenko , 2023 single work novel ; Stone Yard Devotional Charlotte Wood , 2023 single work novel ; Late : A Novel Michael Fitzgerald Page , 2023 single work novel ; Killing for Country : A Family Story David Marr , 2023 multi chapter work criticism ; Gunflower : Stories Laura Jean McKay , 2023 selected work short story ; The Man Who Wasn't There Dan Box , 2023 single work biography ; Home to Biloela Priya Nadesalingam , Rebekah Holt , 2023 single work autobiography
Michael Fitzgerald : Late Ann Skea , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , November 2023;

— Review of Late : A Novel Michael Fitzgerald Page , 2023 single work novel
'Evoking Sydney in the 1980s, Michael Fitzgerald’s third novel plays with ideas of identity, celebrity, and mortality.'
Late Monroe : Michael Fitzgerald’s New Novel Tim Byrne , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 460 2023; (p. 40)

— Review of Late : A Novel Michael Fitzgerald Page , 2023 single work novel

'Michael Fitzgerald’s new novel, Late, opens with a camera obscura, a direct reference to Christopher Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin (1939). The image is a nifty one – a portrait projected across the Pacific Ocean, as well as across time itself – and it goes some way to signalling the author’s intentions: he wants to create a novel deliberately weighted by the creative works (films, books, art, and sculpture) that have come before and, for his protagonist – who in real life died on 4 August 1962 – those that have come since.' (Introduction)          

Book Review : Late, Michael Fitzgerald Ellie Fisher , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: ArtsHub , October 2023;

— Review of Late : A Novel Michael Fitzgerald Page , 2023 single work novel

'A speculative 'what if?' novel inspired by Marilyn Monroe.'

Last amended 10 Jul 2023 16:03:06
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