Shadbolt, Holden. Gender: male. Age: 34.
Model: Australian. No frills.

Holden's Performance is the sprawling life story of Holden Shadbold: a hilarious all-Australian trajectory from car maniac to cinema bouncer to Prime Ministerial bodyguard. Guileless and matter of fact, Holden is fated to follow the flamboyant people around him- ex-Corporal McBee, who zealously woos Holden's mother; his Uncle Vern, a short-sighted proof -reader with a fondness for eating the morning paper with his cereal; and Harriet, the crippled poster artist, whose twists and curves intersect with Holden's unswervingly straight lines...

'The clotted magnificence of this chortling midden of ratbags, pervs and wastrels keeps you reading' - Valentine Cunningham, Observer

About the Author
Murray Bail was born in Adelaide in 1941. He is the author of four novels and two collections of short stories. Harvill Secker published his Notebooks in 2005. His novel Eucalyptus was awarded the 1999 Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

Reviews
Very amusing, ironic and wise... a success, no doubt about it * Sydney Morning Herald *
A novel of epic proportions. It's not merely about characters and events, but also about shapes and landscapes, history and the future, fact and falsehood, light and darkness... He writes with a rare perception of the Australian struggle for a defineable identity in bold, inventive, often wildly funny prose -- David Rooney * Time Out *
The work of a dazzling imagination -- Kate Saunders * Independent *



Book Information
ISBN 9781860465925
Author Murray Bail
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint The Harvill Press
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 329g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 127mm * 22mm