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transandanxious's review
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
tommooney's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. It's alright but a bit up its own arse. I don't think I know nearly enough about Australian literature to really get most of the satire. But it's interesting.
nearly_time's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
kaydee's review against another edition
5.0
This was, in a word, fantastic. A biting satirical take on Australian literature and history, so brilliantly executed that I started questioning my own knowledge.
I particularly enjoyed some of the themes on race and gender, a not so gentle admonishment of the literary elite.
What a way to kick off a new reading year.
I particularly enjoyed some of the themes on race and gender, a not so gentle admonishment of the literary elite.
What a way to kick off a new reading year.
ladydewinter's review
4.0
This is one of the most hilarious books I've read in a while - funny and smart and full of inside jokes from the literary world. It's a collection of biographical "essays" on Australian writers who never existed, and I loved the way the stories/essays interacted with each other and how the fiction was interwoven with facts so deftly that I had to google several times to make sure the writer wasn't actually real.
It's a brilliant book right until the very end, including the index which you must not skip. And chapter three has what may be my favourite joke ever.
It's a brilliant book right until the very end, including the index which you must not skip. And chapter three has what may be my favourite joke ever.
shimmer's review
Brilliant. And hilarious. Even if your knowledge of Australian literary and cultural history is limited (as mine is), O'Neill's collection of invented authors and their biographies taps into and puncture literature in a broad enough way that you'll still laugh your head off. The individual bios can each stand on its own, but as the book goes on there are more and more overlapping names and references, which only increases the fun and food for thought. As literary satire's go, this is going right on my shelf beside Paul Ewen's Francis Plug: How To Be A Public Author (and if you liked that one, I think you'll like this book, too).
jenburn's review
5.0
What a read! I hadn’t read reviews before I started this - it was recommended by a colleague at work. After the first few pages of the first chapter I was intrigued. Why hadn’t I heard of any of these books or authors? I started googling things and kept coming back to this book. And then I realised that this is a work of fiction. After that I couldn’t stop laughing and reading.
As someone has written in another review, this is best read in order and don’t skip the index. I’ll be recommending this to people from here on in, Australians especially. And now that I’ve finished it I really feel that I need to reread it to catch all the little hints throughout that I missed first time around.
As someone has written in another review, this is best read in order and don’t skip the index. I’ll be recommending this to people from here on in, Australians especially. And now that I’ve finished it I really feel that I need to reread it to catch all the little hints throughout that I missed first time around.
lisa_setepenre's review
5.0
Their Brilliant Careers is a brilliant work of meta-fiction, a collection of biographies of sixteen celebrated and completely invented Australian authors. There’s Addison Tiller, the celebrated writer of the bush who never left Sydney and hated his success, the experimental writer, Arthur ruhtrA who achieved the impossible and united the poetry world against him, the great Sydney Steele who may have struck a devil’s bargain for his talent, and the talentless Vivien Darkbloom who knew how to work a room. It is a tale of blackmail, subterfuge, arson, plagiarism, murder, sex and sabotage that’s wickedly smart, wickedly funny and just plain wicked.