Miles Walker, You're Dead
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Linda Jaivin is at her hilarious best in this romantic comedy, which skewers art and politics with mischievous delight.
On the eve of the millennium, Miles Walker has problems. His flatmate Thurston, a moody medievalist, thinks it would be a good career move for Miles to die young. Miles' best friend, the pre-conceptual artist ZakDot, agrees-and the chainsaw-wielding Maddie seems only too happy to help.
Then along comes Destiny, the enigmatically beautiful politician who hates art but likes Miles. Now the others really want to kill him.
By the time bare buttocks are squeaking over the blackheart sassafras of the prime ministerial dining table, it looks like Miles' fate is sealed.
Linda Jaivin worked and studied in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China before settling in Sydney as a writer and translator. Her four novels include the international best-seller Eat Me; Rock n Roll Babes from Outer Space; Miles Walker, You’re Dead; and Dead Sexy. She is co-editor of New Ghosts, Old Dreams: Chinese Rebel Voices, and the author of non-fiction titles Confessions of an S&M Virgin, and The Monkey and the Dragon.
textpublishing.com.au
'Miles Walker, You're Dead is rapier sharp. This is a witty fast-paced piss-take of the art world, politics and culture.' Juice
'This has to be the hot novel of the summer...fast and funny, it's a satirical thriller with a romantic comedy sub-plot - one of those books that breaks the mould...Like Miles, Jaivin evidently has respect for artistic tradition -including good structure, characterisation and universality of theme. But she also likes to have fun. A treat not to be missed, whatever your generation.' Bulletin
'Wit and whimsy abound.' Courier-Mail
‘Miles Walker is a thoroughly enjoyable and savagely witty read, clever without a hint of pretension. Bound to be a hit with the ‘Gen X’ readers who made Linda Jaivin one of the country’s most bankable writers.’ Australian Bookseller and Publisher
‘through sheer narrative drive this most unlikely of yarns is hard to put down...Jaivin may have simply set out to create some amusing stereotypes, but they come unnervingly close to individuals one could easily encounter in Sydney...Jaivin’s portrait of the art world is terrifyingly accurate.’ Age
‘Jaivin has to be one of “Strayer’s” most artful storytellers. She laces her tale with non-stop wit and laugh-out-loud silliness, but there are also plenty of well-aimed jabs at politicians, philistines and anybody with artistic pretensions.’ Adelaide Advertiser
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"I'm right up there with Rembrandt," boasts the eponymous art student in Jaivin's undemanding but entertaining satire. Australia is in the grips of an unprecedented love affair with all things cultural: hoodlums argue about Shakespeare productions and composers do tampon ads. Miles, a "serious" young painter, spends most of his time fretting over how to become immortal. He shares a loft with ZakDot, a flamboyant "pre-conceptual" artist; Maddie, a punk Amazon who likes to blow things up; and Thurston, a freelance statistical analyst with a medieval fetish. (It's Thurston who determines that the formula for Miles's success must include dying young.) The artistic community is driven underground when a woman named Destiny Doppler becomes prime minister. Aided by Verbero, a coke fiend with a speech impediment, she heads the Clean Slate party, which is committed to wiping out all culture. Although moronic Destiny is "so suspicious of art that she once refused to wear a necklace when she found out it was made from cultured pearls," she decides to have her portrait painted and Miles gets the job. When he unwittingly crosses Verbero, Miles finds himself facing "immortality" even sooner than he had wished. Jaivin milks her premise for all it's worth and allows farce to overwhelm the satire as she piles on ludicrous plot twists that culminate in a dreadfully trite ending. Still, it's hard not to be amused by the ceaseless one-liners and huge cast of flaky characters.