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Boy Swallows Universe by [Dalton, Trent]

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Boy Swallows Universe Kindle Edition

by Trent Dalton (Author)

195 customer reviews

in Coming of Age Fiction

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'Without exaggeration, the best Australian novel I have read in more than a decade' Sydney Morning Herald

The bestselling novel that has taken Australia, and the world, by storm. Winner of Book of the Year at the 2019 Indie Book Awards and winner of a record four Australian Book Industry Awards in 2019, including the prestigious Book of the Year Award.

Brisbane, 1983: A lost father, a mute brother, a mum in jail, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crim for a babysitter. It's not as if Eli's life isn't complicated enough already. He's just trying to follow his heart, learning what it takes to be a good man, but life just keeps throwing obstacles in the way - not least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary Brisbane drug dealer.

But Eli's life is about to get a whole lot more serious. He's about to fall in love. And, oh yeah, he has to break into Boggo Road Gaol on Christmas Day, to save his mum.

A story of brotherhood, true love and the most unlikely of friendships, Boy Swallows Universe will be the most heartbreaking, joyous and exhilarating novel you will read all year.

Awards:

2019 ABIA Book of the Year Award, Winner

2019 Indie Book Award, Winner

UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Winner

MUD Literary Prize 2019, Winner

2019 ABIA Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year, Winner

2019 ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, Winner

2019 ABIA Audiobook of the Year, Winner

2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Longlisted

Reviews:

'Boy Swallows Universe is a wonderful surprise: sharp as a drawer full of knives in terms of subject matter; unrepentantly joyous in its child's-eye view of the world; the best literary debut in a month of Sundays.' The Australian

'Boy Swallows Universe hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak.' Washington Post

'This thrilling novel' New York Times Book Review

'Marvelously plot-rich ... filled with beautifully lyric prose ...At one point Eli wonders if he is good. The answer is "yes," every bit as good as this exceptional novel.' Booklist

'Dalton's splashy, stellar debut makes the typical coming-of-age novel look bland by comparison ... This is an outstanding debut.' Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

'Extraordinary and beautiful storytelling' Guardian

Length: 480 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Audible Narration: Audible Narration Switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book and listening to the Audible narration. Add narration for a reduced price of $13.99 after you buy the Kindle book. Ready	Language: English

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Product description

Review

‘Extraordinary … you will want this’ Joanna Cannon

‘Many coming-of-age novels set in the 1980s are little more than a roll-call of pop songs, retro snack foods and chopper bikes. Not this one. This is a proper literary novel about addiction, poverty, parenting and the power of love … Dalton has created an electric novel out of a troubled childhood … it’s a lively, funny affirmation of the human instinct for survival in a hostile environment’ The Times

‘Chock full of magic and what it really means to be a good person. The Bell brothers will stay with me for a very long time’ Rachael Brown, Guardian

‘Thrilling’ New York Times

‘Stellar … makes the typical coming-of-age novel look bland by comparison …This is an outstanding debut’ Publishers Weekly

‘Boy Swallows Universe hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak. The events of Eli’s life are often fatal and tragic, but fate and tragedy do not overpower the story. Eli’s remarkably poetic voice and his astonishingly open heart take the day. They enable him to carve out the best of what’s possible from the worst of what is, which is the miracle that makes this novel marvelous’ Washington Post

‘Marvellous … filled with beautifully lyric prose … exceptional’ Booklist (Starred Review)

‘The best Australian novel I have read in more than a decade' Sydney Morning Herald

‘The most extraordinary writer – a rare talent' Nikki Gemmell

‘Unsuspectedly joyous… sad, warm, witty’ The Australian

Book Description

An utterly wonderful novel of love, crime, magic, fate and coming of age, set in Brisbane's violent working class suburban fringe – from one of Australia's most exciting new writers.

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Product details

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 861 KB
Print Length: 424 pages
Publisher: 4th Estate (1 July 2018)
Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers (AU)
Language: English
ASIN: B078QRFRZX
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

X-Ray:

Enabled

Word Wise: Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported

Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled

Average Customer Review: 195 customer reviews
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #5 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #2 in Literary Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #1 in Coming of Age Fiction
- #1 in Biographical Fiction

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195 customer reviews

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Pamela Mawbey

thumbs down for BSU

18 November 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I did not like this book at all and would not recommend it to anybody. By page 12 it felt 'contrived' and I wanted to stop reading it then. But I had to read it for a book club, but only managed to go half way. After our discussion, I then had a quick sneak peak at the end of the book but that did not make me feel any friendlier towards it. I did not like the matter. Found it tedious and heavy going. My working life has involved dealing with crims and druggies and I'm over it. Not a novelty for me. I thought the author was trying to capitalise on having rubbed shoulders with one of the country's most notorious criminals, but not wanting to sound like he was big noting himself about it. The best part of this book in my view was its captivating creative colourful cover.

8 people found this helpful

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Annette Lawless

A little bit too long winded.

17 January 2019

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I’m torn between loving & hating Boy Swallows Universe. I did enjoy the writing style but on the other hand I felt it became a little too bogged down in it’s descriptiveness (if that’s a word?). I feel the characters would still have been developed enough in a shorter amount of time. I think that’s why, for me,the lead up to the conclusion would have been a bit more exciting if we had of gotten to it a bit sooner. I almost gave up on it as I just wanted it to finish about 3/4 of the way through. Also, I found aspects of the ending a bit silly compared to how the story was told at the beginning of the book.

3 people found this helpful

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Simply Magnificent

13 March 2019

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Well, what can I say, but Trent Dalton, you have left me speechless! I've had Boy Swallows Universe on my shelf for several months now, not wanting to pick it up, afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype. It lives up to it, and more!

It's the coming of age tale of Eli, growing up in Brisbane's western suburbs, raised by drug dealers. We follow Eli and his brother August, through all the bad things life could throw at them, yet there are a lot of positives in their lives too. Living in Brisbane I'm familiar with many of the locations in this book, and knowing that it is semi-autobiographical, it really comes to life.

This book will make you laugh, it will make you cry. It is simply magnificent. Thankyou Trent Dalton!

One person found this helpful

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Jewels

Girl loses herself

30 December 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Having lived in many suburbs of Brisbane over 20 years I felt like I could have been part of this story but even with my crazy imagination I didn't have any idea of what was coming. I recognised the suburb names and places but had absolutely no clue where I was being taken from one chapter of this astonishing journey to the next. I get tired of reading review headlines that a book is "unputdownable" as I've put plenty of them down never to pick up again but Trent's story is a beautiful exception. Inspiring. Troubling. Heartwarming. Human. Trent, please keep sharing your gift with the world and taking your readers to places they never knew existed - here or there.

2 people found this helpful

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Erica Halliday

Fresh and Hugely Entertaining

15 September 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I found this book a little hard to get into, it took a while for the plot to develop. However I understand that we needed to develop the characters so that we could come to love them. It is funny, witty, sad and uplifting all at once and a real cliff hanger towards the climax of the book where all the ends weave beautifully into place. Absolutely loved the Australianism of the book.

One person found this helpful

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sharyn

Astonishingly good book

5 January 2019

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Part semi autobiography, part roman a clef, with a bit of mysticism to keep it surreal. This book is entirely brilliant, from the characters to the narrative and pacing and the beauty of the writing itself. Gritty and in parts brutal, engaging and loving without mawkishness. I hope the author has many more stories to tell.

One person found this helpful

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marilyn kelly

Boy Publishes Love Story

6 November 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

An amusing and powerful read ... a kind of 'holiday page turner' for literary readers. It is quite deliciously modern, stylistically, yet solid and well constructed. Gritty, but with a touch of whimsy. The characters, including the protagonist, are strongly developed. I especially liked Slim and Gus. I enjoyed the metaphors, like the moon pool and found that kind of imagery to be a gentle balance to the violent maelstrom of the basic storyline. It has the 'larger than life' quality of a comicbook and it made me laugh to learn, at the end, that the writer has a day job as a journo. On one level, Eli, (and Trent Dalton as this work is highly biographical) is like Jimmy Olsen, the cub reporter character from Superman. On another level, the work resembles Shakespearean tragedy in the intensity of the daily life experienced by young Eli and his drug addicted, working class Australian family.

One person found this helpful

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Colin Parker

Will fly out of the airport bookshop.

8 June 2019

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a page-turner with a good story and likeable (except for the psychopaths) and well-described characters. It's not a biography although that is how you find yourself engaging with it. Pace, structure, and how a reader's interest is maintained is similar to a Dan Brown novel and Brown's research is substituted with Dalton's great ability to see, describe, and have the reader see a scene or a person. Consequently, there is little to be done to create a screenplay; in fact, let's hope the film is not made in Australia else we'd have all the usual suspects playing the character roles (they're mostly character roles). I'd recommend this as entertainment; you won't get bored of it or tired of it, it's not too demanding, and a few literary references scattered here and there might even have you feeling the more educated for having read it.

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