Fever Of Animals

Review ‘Like Greg Baxter and Ben Lerner, Allinson negotiates the semi-porous boundaries between the New World and the Old, the present and the past, English speakers and the rest. This novel is beautifully poised, especially in its playful feints with what is and what is not surreal. Thoughtful, readable, involving; a seductive new literary voice.’ – Richard Beard, author of Acts of the Assassins and x20 ‘A "voice-driven" narrative par excellence, at the heart of which is a sensually evoked life … Allinson's distinctive, slyly amusing voice takes us on a dizzying journey through memory, grief, and what it means to be an artist with integrity.’ – Jude Cook, Literary Review ‘[An] exceptional first novel … full of art and ideas, and yet so intimate that it feels like a conversation with a dear, intelligent friend … masterful in its treatment of time and memory, and filled with such clarifying moments of observation and insight that it is heartbreaking to reach the final page. This is an exquisite, painterly novel, and Allinson is a writer destined for a cult following.’ – Emily Bitto, Stella Prize-winning author of The Strays ‘It’s thrilling to read writing like this. Panels of visual perfection strung throughout give sustained lapidary brilliance … There’s a lot of learned conversation about art and art history … [and] some tender and anguished inquiries about whom we love and why … Underneath all of this is the eternal question about how to be authentically yourself in the world … [A]n extravagantly good novel. Not only does it have assurance and authority, it is made with that remarkable magical force of authenticity.’ – Helen Elliott, Saturday Age ‘As this fever-dream of a novel veers between the quotidian and the nightmarish, it asks vital and difficult questions about the role of art, politics, madness, identity and intimacy … [a] deeply impressive debut.’ Five Stars – Veronica Sullivan, Books & Publishing ‘[A] cerebral novel, passionately invested in the intellectual and cultural value of artistic production … From Balaclava and St Kilda to London, Berlin, Venice and Bucharest, Allinson’s novel ranges far and wide, anchored by the all-encompassing interiority of its unsettled protagonist’s first person narrative … Disparate timeframes, geographically distant locations and even different textual modes are seamlessly woven together, inviting the reader to reflect on the different ways a novel can take form ― and indeed, the different forms a novel can take … [Fever of Animals] moves effortlessly between the streets of Fitzroy or London and a world of haunted Romanian forests and fevered dreams.’ – Sophia Barnes, Sydney Review of Books ‘Allinson is unashamedly a serious writer, in the mould of dark luminaries like Roberto Bolaño, Thomas Bernhard, Robert Walser, and perhaps W.G. Sebald … Fever of Animals takes itself seriously, like good art should do … and it takes you seriously. All it asks is that you take it seriously back, and to do so is pleasurable and challenging and nourishingly sad.’ – Sam Cooney, Readings Monthly ‘Heartfelt, darkly comic, and nothing short of extraordinary. Allinson’s novel is a rarity ― fearless, finely judged and alive with mystery.’ – Andrew Croome, author of Midnight Express and Document Z ‘[Allinson] has a distinctive and rare authorial voice, one that is alive with wit, intelligence, and energy … An outstanding new talent.’ – Toni Jordan ‘This is the book on everyone's lips right now … Offbeat and superbly written.’ – Tessa Connelly, Canberra Weekly ‘Weird, audacious, paradoxical and strange … Fever of Animals consistently invites us to question its claims to authenticity: what exactly is the difference between great fiction and a tremendously compelling lie, a hoax? … [A] fruitful collaboration of the critic and the fiction writer … full of bizarre, uncalculatedly stunning moments … somewhere at the intersection of lying and lyric.’ – Joshua Barnes, The Newtown Review of Books ‘[A