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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
"Eleven year-old Floaty-boy (so named because of his passion for body-surfing and peculiar talent for buoyancy) inhabits a murky, watery world of wagging school and illicit night surfing. He hovers on the edge of things; he is in between not boy or man and inhabits liminal spaces: the edge of the ocean when he body-surfs and the edges of a family that seems to be spinning out of control. Vulnerable, Floaty-boy is as prey to his altered dream-like perceptions of the world as he is to the sharks that cruise in the other world of down below. At the centre of Floaty-boy's universe is Adelaide - mother, wife, surfer and breadwinner who holds not only her own family together but the knockabout Cronies of her larrikin husband, the Old Man. Yet when her eldest son, Eddie, disappears, her family's world threatens to fall apart; her centre may not hold and Floaty-boy has to find a way to cope."
(Publisher's blurb)
Affiliation Notes
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Writing Disability in Australia
Type of disability Not explicit in the text. In an interview with the author, the Sydney Morning Herald suggests Floaty Boy has an attention deficit disorder. Type of character Primary. Point of view First person.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
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10 ‘Lost’ Australian Literary Treasures You Should Read – and Can Soon Borrow from Any Library
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 24 November 2020; -
Untitled
2004
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , October vol. 84 no. 4 2004; (p. 31)
— Review of The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks : A Novel 2002 single work novel -
Tampa Proof? Australian Fiction 2002-2003
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 48 no. 2003; (p. 159-174) -
Black Jests
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 251 2003; (p. 47)
— Review of The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks : A Novel 2002 single work novel -
Life as a Wave
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 6 May vol. 121 no. 6371 2003; (p. 77)
— Review of The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks : A Novel 2002 single work novel
-
Untitled
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , December 2002/January vol. 82 no. 6 2003; (p. 29)
— Review of The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks : A Novel 2002 single work novel -
Aussie Eyes Smilin' in Lainey's Life
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 8 February 2003; (p. 11)
— Review of Spin the Bottle 2003 single work novel ; The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks : A Novel 2002 single work novel -
Plot May Be Optional but Wit is Essential
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 8-9 February 2003; (p. 10-11)
— Review of All This Is So 2002 single work novel ; The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks : A Novel 2002 single work novel ; Air Guitar : The True Life and Daggy Times of a Lounge-Room Rock Star 2003 single work novel ; Ninety East Ridge 2002 single work novel -
Untitled
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 19 - 25 February 2003; (p. 14)
— Review of The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks : A Novel 2002 single work novel -
Caught in the Currents
2003
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 15 February 2003; (p. 8)
— Review of The Mindless Ferocity of Sharks : A Novel 2002 single work novel -
Knockabout Novelist
2003
single work
column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 8 February 2003; (p. 15) -
Tampa Proof? Australian Fiction 2002-2003
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 48 no. 2003; (p. 159-174) -
10 ‘Lost’ Australian Literary Treasures You Should Read – and Can Soon Borrow from Any Library
2020
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 24 November 2020;
Awards
- 2005 longlisted International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
- 2003 shortlisted Colin Roderick Award Announced in 2004
- 2003 winner Western Australian Premier's Book Awards — Fiction
- Western Australia,
- Coast,
