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

'"He could not find one single more word to say. I just want to be free. He could not say those words. They had already withered in his mind, turned to dust. He did not even know, he marvelled now, what the hell those words had meant."

'Acclaimed novelist Charlotte Wood takes a character from her bestselling book The Children and turns her unflinching gaze on him and his world in her extraordinary novel, Animal People. Set in Sydney over a single day, Animal People traces a watershed day in the life of Stephen, aimless, unhappy, unfulfilled - and without a clue as to how to make his life better.

'His dead-end job, his demanding family, his oppressive feelings for Fiona and the pitiless city itself ... the great weight of it all threatens to come crashing down on him. The day will bring untold surprises and disasters, but will also show him - perhaps too late - that only love can set him free.

'Sharply observed, hilarious, tender and heartbreaking, Animal People is a portrait of urban life, a meditation on the conflicted nature of human-animal relationships, and a masterpiece of storytelling. Filled with shocks of recognition and revelation, it shows a writer of great depth and compassion at work. (From the publisher's website.)

Exhibitions

17215663
17023670

Notes

  • Stephen, one of the siblings from Wood's novel The Children, is the main character in Animal People.
  • Dedication: for Sean
  • Epigraph:
    And I must borrow every changing shape
    To find expression...dance, dance
    Like a dancing bear,
    Cry like a parrot, chatter like an ape.

    -TS Eliot, 'Portrait of a Lady'

    Whereas in animals fear is a response to signal,
    in men it is endemic.

    -John Berger, Why Look at Animals?

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: 264p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: October 2011.
      ISBN: 9781742376851 (pbk.)
    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2012 .
      image of person or book cover 1603051232996166548.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 264p.p.
      ISBN: 9781743311844, 1743311842

Other Formats

  • Also braille and sound recording, large print

Works about this Work

[Untitled] Kate Livett , 2013 single work review
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 73 no. 2 2013; (p. 230-235)

— Review of Animal People Charlotte Wood , 2011 single work novel ; Foal's Bread Gillian Mears , 2011 single work novel
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)
Women of Words Marc McEvoy , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 20 May 2012; (p. 19)
Miles Franklin Longlist Has Room for Both Genders Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 March 2012; (p. 5)
Everyperson on a Bus Miriam Zolin , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December 2011-January 2012 no. 337 2011; (p. 34)

— Review of Animal People Charlotte Wood , 2011 single work novel
[Review] Animal People Heather Dyer , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , September vol. 91 no. 3 2011; (p. 25)

— Review of Animal People Charlotte Wood , 2011 single work novel
Aboard the Human Ark Angela Meyer , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 8 October 2011; (p. 33)

— Review of Animal People Charlotte Wood , 2011 single work novel
Profound Scope in Zoo of Humanity Rebecca Starford , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 8-9 October 2011; (p. 19)

— Review of Animal People Charlotte Wood , 2011 single work novel
Caged in the Human Zoo Diane Stubbings , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 October 2011; (p. 24)

— Review of Animal People Charlotte Wood , 2011 single work novel
Immune to Animal Attraction and Firmly in Control Felicity McLean , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 15 - 16 October 2011; (p. 21)

— Review of Animal People Charlotte Wood , 2011 single work novel
The Children (Continued) Heather Dyer (interviewer), 2011 single work interview
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , September vol. 91 no. 3 2011; (p. 29)
Miles Franklin Longlist Has Room for Both Genders Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29 March 2012; (p. 5)
Women of Words Marc McEvoy , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 20 May 2012; (p. 19)
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)
All About Charlotte Wood Roselina Press , 2011 single work interview
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , October 2011;
Last amended 11 Nov 2019 15:53:17
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