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'The wildly impressive, raucously funny and deeply moving second novel from award-winning writer, actor and director for television, theatre and film, Brendan Cowell, confirming the talent he showed in his bestselling debut novel from 2010, How It Feels.
'Peter 'The Plum' Lum is a 48-year-old ex-star NRL player, living with his son and girlfriend in Cronulla. He's living a pretty cruisey life until one day he suffers an epileptic fit and discovers that he has a brain disorder as a result of the thousand-odd head knocks he took on the footy field in his twenty-year-career. According to his neurologist, Plum has to make some changes - right now - or it's dementia, or even death.
'Reluctantly, Plum embarks on a journey of self-care and self-discovery, which is not so easy when all you've ever known is to go full tilt at everything. On top of this, he's being haunted by dead poets, and, unable to stop crying, discovers he has a special gift for the spoken word. With spectral visits from Bukowski and Plath, the friendship of local misfits, and the prospect of new love, Plum might just save his own life.
'From award-winning writer, director and actor, Brendan Cowell, Plum is a powerfully moving, authentic, big-hearted, angry and joyous novel of men, their inarticulate pain and what it takes for them to save themselves - from themselves. It's got a roaring energy, a raucous humour, a heart of gold and a poetic soul.' (Publication summary)
Adaptations
- form y Plum ( dir. Wayne Blair et. al. )agent Australia : Roadshow Rough Diamond Modern Convict Films Australian Broadcasting Corporation , 2025 27416227 2025 series - publisher film/TV
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
The Little Jolts
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , February 2022;
— Review of Plum 2021 single work novel'Early in Brendan Cowell’s latest novel, Plum, the scales fall from the eyes of his protagonist, a 49-year-old ex-rugby league player named Peter Lum.'
-
The Little Jolts
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , February 2022;
— Review of Plum 2021 single work novel'Early in Brendan Cowell’s latest novel, Plum, the scales fall from the eyes of his protagonist, a 49-year-old ex-rugby league player named Peter Lum.'
Awards
- 2022 longlisted Indie Awards — Fiction
- Cronulla, Caringbah - Cronulla area, Sutherland area, Sydney Southern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,