Happy paperback Pub Day to “The australian” by emma smith-stevens
Smith-Stevens' evocation of alienation is often profound and her prose is always beautiful."—Kirkus Review
"A mesmerizing debut... Readers are treated to a captivating and memorable journey." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"THE AUSTRALIAN is an astute, often satirical look at self-actualization and what it means to be a man, partner, father and son. Smith-Stevens writes in a marvelously voyeuristic style.... The nameless man, both hero and no-hoper, is a poignant and pointed reflection of the imperfections that vex us all."—Shelf Awareness
A young man known as "the Australian" journeys between New York and Melbourne on a quest of self-discovery in this poignant exploration of loneliness, love, and fatherhood
In her humorous and emotionally resonant debut, Emma Smith-Stevens follows the exploits and evolution of a young man - known only as “the Australian” - over the course of a dozen years, from his time posing for tourist photos as Superman to his life in New York, chasing fame and fortune. Married to a woman he barely knows and struggling to forge a relationship with his son, the Australian travels between the U.S. and Melbourne, seeking to reconnect with his deceased parents through his father’s Australian Outdoor Geographic magazines and the Dreaming Tracks, sacred landmarks his mother longed to explore.
Through this quest for self-discovery, the Australian becomes both more and less enigma: “the idea of this guy you could find in any city, a hostel anywhere in the world, smiling, suntanned, hauling a backpack.” A poignant and at times satirical meditation on masculinity, fatherhood, isolation, New York City, fame, and loss, The Australian examines the human tendency to fall in love with the idea of another person and the importance of knowing one’s essential nature.
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about the author
Emma Smith-Stevens’s writing has appeared in Subtropics, Conjunctions, Day One, Wigleaf, and many other publications. Her essay “The Sun” is included in Not That Bad: Dispatches From Rape Culture, an anthology published by Harper Perennial (Eds. Roxane Gay and Ashley C. Ford). She holds an MFA from the University of Florida and currently teaches fiction writing as part of the Bard Prison Initiative. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. This is her first novel.