On Patrick White's Dilemmas

'A brilliantly written, autobiographically structured meditation on Australia’s pre-eminent novelist Patrick White. Karalis’ small volume reflects eloquently on a lifetime of reading, writing, and translating. On Patrick White’s Dilemmas casts a sceptical eye on the grandiosity and hysteria of literary critics and critical theorists. It explores the highs and lows of the twentieth-century novel in a dazzling manner while dissecting White’s singularity: his startling use of language, defiance of fad and ideology, mastery of ambiguity, irony and mystery, quotidian drollness, and complex mythopoetic storytelling. Karalis’ book is remarkable – the most important examination of White’s divine comedy of disturbing human quandaries that has appeared to date.' – Professor Peter Murphy, La Trobe University