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y separately published work icon Seven Types of Ambiguity single work   novel   thriller  
Issue Details: First known date: 2003... 2003 Seven Types of Ambiguity
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'At once a psychological thriller and a social critique, Seven Types of Ambiguity is a novel of obsessive love in an age of obsessive materialism.

'Following years of unrequited love, an out-of-work schoolteacher decides to take matters into his own hands, triggering a chain of events no one could have anticipated.

'This is a story of impulse and paralysis, of empty marriages, lovers and a small boy, gambling and the market, of adult children and their parents, of poetry and prostitution, psychiatry and the law.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Faber ed.).

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Seven Types of Ambiguity Jacquelin Perske , Jonathan Gavin , Marieke Hardy , ( dir. Glendyn Ivin et. al. )agent Australia : Matchbox Pictures Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2017 10408355 2017 series - publisher film/TV thriller

'Seven-year-old Sam Marin is taken from his school. Much to the relief of his parents Anna and Joe, Sam is found unharmed hours later and the police arrest ex-school teacher, Simon Heywood. It’s not a matter of who took Sam, but a question of why.

'Told from the shifting perspectives of seven characters, this psychological mystery explores the complex emotional terrain of past and present relationships and the risks people will go to in the name of love.'

Source: ABC TV (http://about.abc.net.au/abc-in-2017/drama-lovers/). (Sighted: 04/11/2016)

Notes

  • Dedication: for Debbie
  • Epigraph:
    God has pity on kindergarten children.
    He has less pity on school children.
    And on grownups he has no pity at all,
    he leaves them alone,
    and sometimes they must crawl on all fours... (Yehuda Amichai)

  • Included in the New York Times Book Review's 100 Notable Books of the Year list for 2005.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Picador , 2003 .
      image of person or book cover 2120838655653449399.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 607p.
      ISBN: 0330364235
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Faber ,
      2003 .
      image of person or book cover 8510276072428455616.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 607p.
      ISBN: 0571207170 (pbk.)
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Riverhead Books ,
      2004 .
      image of person or book cover 1278274847089108217.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 607p.
      ISBN: 157322281X (alk. paper)
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Picador , 2004 .
      image of person or book cover 8586551228626395715.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 607p.
      ISBN: 0330364944
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Faber ,
      2005 .
      image of person or book cover 3642041387020249444.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 624p.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 16th June 2005
      ISBN: 0571207227
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Riverhead Books ,
      2005 .
      image of person or book cover 9025946897634754617.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 628p.p.
      Edition info: 1st US trade pbk ed.
      ISBN: 9781594481437, 1594481431
    • North Sydney, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Vintage Australia , 2017 .
      image of person or book cover 3513915552542519080.png
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 624p.p.
      Edition info: TV tie-in ed.
      Note/s:
      • Published: 27th February 2017
      ISBN: 9780143784487, 014378448X
    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2018 .
      image of person or book cover 8189234922389340354.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 607p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 19 March 2018.

      ISBN: 9780143790921
Alternative title: Zeven vormen van dubbelzinnigheid
Language: Dutch
    • Amsterdam,
      c
      Netherlands,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      De Bezige Bij ,
      2004 .
      image of person or book cover 4116068307457666525.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 679p.
      ISBN: 9023414993

Other Formats

  • Also braille and sound recording.

Works about this Work

Elliot Perlman Interview Samuel Elliott (interviewer), 2019 single work interview
— Appears in: Other Terrain , December no. 8 2019;
Seven Types of Ambiguity Elliot Perlman , 2017 extract novel
— Appears in: Underline , March no. 2 2017; (p. 20-21)

— Review of Seven Types of Ambiguity Elliot Perlman , 2003 single work novel
Seven Types of Ambiguity Review – Hugo Weaving Conjures Dark Magic Amid a Powerful Cast Luke Buckmaster , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 10 April 2017;
'ABC TV’s adaptation of Elliot Perlman’s novel is full of electric performances, but turns down the heat on some of the story’s most thrilling elements.'
Silent Triumph of the Individual : Social Investigation through Empathy in Elliot Perlman's Three Dollars, Seven Types of Ambiguity, and The Street Sweeper Fiona Duthie , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 27 no. 2 2013; (p. 197-202)

'The novels of Elliot Perlman encompass a wide variety of social observations and criticism in both contemporary and historical settings. Each novel, Three Dollars, Types of Ambiguity, and The Street Sweeper, most definitely constitutes a recognition of suffering and a cry against inhumanity. However, the principal purpose of these novels is not to wallow in awfulness, nor is it solely to educate readers as to the harder realities of life. Here, Duthie examines Perlman's three novels. ' (Publication summary)

Readers' Choice : Tales of Sensation and Sentiment 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 13 May 2012; (p. 17)
Acts of Love Helen Elliott , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 23-24 August 2003; (p. 10-11)

— Review of Seven Types of Ambiguity Elliot Perlman , 2003 single work novel ; Eva's Angel Garry Disher , 2003 single work novel
All About Their Ambiguity Penny Hueston , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 23 August 2003; (p. 4)

— Review of Seven Types of Ambiguity Elliot Perlman , 2003 single work novel
Doubleman Ben Naparstek , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 23 August 2003; (p. 7)

— Review of Seven Types of Ambiguity Elliot Perlman , 2003 single work novel
Perlman's Angry Novel Leaves Its Mark Ben Naparstek , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , 29 August vol. 69 no. 51 2003; (p. 20)

— Review of Seven Types of Ambiguity Elliot Perlman , 2003 single work novel
Greed is Good as a Conversation Piece A. P. Riemer , 2003 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 6-7 September 2003; (p. 14-15)

— Review of Seven Types of Ambiguity Elliot Perlman , 2003 single work novel
But Seriously... Caroline Baum , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Good Weekend , 16 August 2003; (p. 27, [31], [33])
A Searing Social Critique Ben Naparstek , 2003 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 23 August 2003; (p. 3a)
Unambiguous Rodomontade Hugh Dillon , 2003-2004 single work correspondence
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December-January no. 257 2003-2004; (p. 4)
Literary Names Give Award Fresh Life James Hall , 2004 single work column
— Appears in: The Australian , 30 April 2004; (p. 15)
Reams of Acclaim with No Ambiguity Susan Wyndham , 2005 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 19-20 February 2005; (p. 10)
A column canvassing current literary events including a section on the overseas reception of Elliot Perlman's Seven Types of Ambiguity.

Awards

2004 shortlisted Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Best Fiction Book
2004 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
2004 shortlisted Commonwealth Writers Prize South East Asia and South Pacific Region Best Book
Last amended 19 Jul 2023 15:17:28
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