person or book cover
Image courtesy of Allen & Unwin.
y separately published work icon The Life : A Novel single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2011... 2011 The Life : A Novel
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'He looked into the Pacific and the Pacific looked back into him.

'The Life
tells the story of former-world-champion Australian surfer, Dennis Keith, from inside the very heart of the fame and madness that is "The Life".

'Now bloated and paranoid, former Australian surfing legend Dennis Keith is holed up in his mother's retirement village, shuffling to the shop for a Pine-Lime Splice every day, barely existing behind his aviator sunnies and crazy OCD rules, and trying not to think about the waves he'd made his own and the breaks he once ruled like a god. Years before he'd been robbed of the world title that had his name on it - and then drugs, his brother, and the disappearance and murder of his girlfriend and had done the rest. Out of the blue, a young would-be biographer comes knocking and stirs up memories Dennis thought he'd buried. It takes Dennis a while to realise that she's not there to write his story at all.

'Daring, ambitious, dazzling, The Life is also as real as it gets - a searing, beautiful novel about fame and ambition and the price that must sometimes be paid for reaching too high.' (From the publisher's website.)

Notes

  • Dedication: for Lyn Tranter.

Affiliation Notes

  • Writing Disability in Australia

    Type of disability Mental depression, schizophrenia, paranoia, obsessive compulsive disorders.
    Type of character Primary.
    Point of view First, second and third person.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2011 .
      person or book cover
      Image courtesy of Allen & Unwin.
      Extent: 407p.
      ISBN: 9781742372990 (pbk.)
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Allen and Unwin ,
      2012 .
      image of person or book cover 5545656292684050961.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 407p.
      Edition info: Paperback edition
      Note/s:
      • Published 1 May 2012
      ISBN: 9781742377612 (pbk.)
Alternative title: Shangrila
Language: French
    • Paris,
      c
      France,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Asphalte Éditions ,
      2012 .
      image of person or book cover 7344443327478313598.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 512p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published May 2012.
      ISBN: 9782918767251
    • Paris,
      c
      France,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Asphalte Éditions ,
      2019 .
      image of person or book cover 7855878101320952647.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 496p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 2nd May 2019.
      ISBN: 9782918767893

Works about this Work

Now, Read This Stephen Romei , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15-16 December 2012; (p. 22-23) The Weekend Australian , 5-6 January 2013; (p. 14-25)
Footnotes Marc McEvoy , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 5 August 2012; (p. 15)
Interview : Kill Your Darlings in Conversation with Malcolm Knox 2012 single work interview
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings , January no. 8 2012; (p. 111-133)
The Silver Age of Fiction Peter Pierce , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 110-115)

‘In human reckoning, Golden Ages are always already in the past. The Greek poet Hesiod, in Works and Days, posited Five Ages of Mankind: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic and Iron (Ovid made do with four). Writing in the Romantic period, Thomas Love Peacock (author of such now almost forgotten novels as Nightmare Abbey, 1818) defined The Four Ages of Poetry (1820) in which their order was Iron, Gold, Silver and Bronze. To the Golden Age, in their archaic greatness, belonged Homer and Aeschylus. The Silver Age, following it, was less original, but nevertheless 'the age of civilised life'. The main issue of Peacock's thesis was the famous response that he elicited from his friend Shelley - Defence of Poetry (1821).’ (Publication abstract)

This Surfing Life Daniel Ducrou , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Big Issue , 21 June - 4 July no. 383 2011; (p. 35)
Review : The Life Jo Case , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , May vol. 90 no. 8 2011; (p. 40)

— Review of The Life : A Novel Malcolm Knox , 2011 single work novel
Green Cathedrals Adam Rivett , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 332 2011; (p. 62)

— Review of The Life : A Novel Malcolm Knox , 2011 single work novel
A Pine Lime Splice of the Surfing Life Geordie Williamson , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 18 - 19 June 2011; (p. 18-19)

— Review of The Life : A Novel Malcolm Knox , 2011 single work novel
Paddling into Yesterdays Mark Thomas , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 18 June 2011; (p. 25)

— Review of The Life : A Novel Malcolm Knox , 2011 single work novel
Surfer's Paradise Lost Peter Pierce , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25 - 26 June 2011; (p. 34-35)

— Review of The Life : A Novel Malcolm Knox , 2011 single work novel
Bookmarks Jason Steger , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 13 August 2011; (p. 36)
A column canvassing current literary news including a report that the first two books in Peter Temple's Jack Irish series will be produced for television by Essential Media and Entertainment. Jason Steger notes the similarities between Australian surfer Michael Peterson and the main character in Malcolm Knox's The Life; Knox met Peterson's mother at the 2011 Byron Bay Writers Festival and the two discussed the novel. The column also contains details of the 2011 National Bookshop Day.
This Surfing Life Daniel Ducrou , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Big Issue , 21 June - 4 July no. 383 2011; (p. 35)
The Silver Age of Fiction Peter Pierce , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 70 no. 4 2011; (p. 110-115)

‘In human reckoning, Golden Ages are always already in the past. The Greek poet Hesiod, in Works and Days, posited Five Ages of Mankind: Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic and Iron (Ovid made do with four). Writing in the Romantic period, Thomas Love Peacock (author of such now almost forgotten novels as Nightmare Abbey, 1818) defined The Four Ages of Poetry (1820) in which their order was Iron, Gold, Silver and Bronze. To the Golden Age, in their archaic greatness, belonged Homer and Aeschylus. The Silver Age, following it, was less original, but nevertheless 'the age of civilised life'. The main issue of Peacock's thesis was the famous response that he elicited from his friend Shelley - Defence of Poetry (1821).’ (Publication abstract)

Interview : Kill Your Darlings in Conversation with Malcolm Knox 2012 single work interview
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings , January no. 8 2012; (p. 111-133)
Footnotes Marc McEvoy , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 5 August 2012; (p. 15)
Last amended 3 Feb 2021 15:49:02
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