Brought back to Australia by the death of his father, Dante is sorting through his father's belonging when he comes across a photograph of Johnno, a long-time friend. The photograph stirs up a lifetime of memories for Dante, leading him to finally set Johnno's story--which has haunted him for years--on paper.

An outrageous character of legendary proportions, Johnno is brought to life in all his complexity, beginning with his days at Brisbane Grammar School, when he and Dante first become friends, to the days they spend together in Paris. Johnno's inexplicable rages and periodic transformations are recounted until we come to know him--without ever quite understanding him.

Daring, impossible, and unpredictable, Johnno is a fascinating character. His shocking behavior awes some, annoys others, and provokes a good many more. Above all, though, he is thoroughly unforgettable.

For such a small book there's is certainly a lot packed into this thought-provoking, semi-autobiographical, debut novel. It doesn't seem like a debut at all: there is great precision in the words designed to evoke time, place & emotion.

“Australia was familiar and boring.” That compelling desire to get away to something more, something greater, & the inability not to return, remains, particularly for the young. Malouf's words conjure how much more so it must have been in the post-war, stagnant, stinking Brisbane of the 40s & 50s. Crude, raging, mercurial Johnno is changed by his experiences; Dante seems to be essentially the same, & yet, perhaps his reflections will have an impact.

There is so much here that I have yet to digest, & I suspect I'd need a few more readings to get to the bottom of it all. Dante's feelings about his father, childhood, country, travels, friendship, family, his disinterestedness, it's all there to be discovered. Is it all lies, or about the lies we tell ourselves? It has really stood the test of time this little book.

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