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'Totally convincing and enjoyable ...[Adams] can sketch characters in a dialogue or two, extract entertainment from ordinary situations, and she captures the mood of suburban Australia.' Sunday Times 'It took William Badger some time to understand that he was going to be left behind, deliberately abandoned, what seemed like a thousand miles from home. His mother had simply asked if he would like a nice seaside holiday, and he had said yes.' When William Badger is ten years old his mother Rose takes him to a boarding house in Manly - Seven Miles from Sydney, and a Thousand Miles from Care. Left there, abandoned by the glorious Rose, who once danced and twirled on her little pointy shoes, William sits in the hedge and waits for her return. But the Rose he longs for never returns; the mother who comes back is much too angry to twirl. The only clue William has to this bewildering change is the name on a document he sees in the dining room sideboard: Longleg, the perfect name for an imaginary friend, or an alter ego...In this imaginative tour de force, Miles Franklin award winner Glenda Adams explores with tenderness and grace the life of a man who seems destined to find his mother in all other women. Winner of the National Book Council Banjo Award. Winner of The Age Fiction Book of the Year Award.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Also published in Braille edition and as a sound recording.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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The Goodbye Girl
1996
single work
column
biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 16 March 1996; (p. 9s) -
Subject Matters
1995
single work
criticism
essay
— Appears in: A Sense of Difference 1995; (p. 15-23) The author offers comments on the writing process in five Australian novels by women writers. She stresses that her comments are those of a practitioner reflecting on the work of friends. -
Untitled
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: Publisher's Weekly , 15 June 1992; (p. 97)
— Review of Longleg 1990 single work novel -
Untitled
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: Kirkus Reviews , 1 May 1992; (p. 552)
— Review of Longleg 1990 single work novel -
Aussie Comes of Age
1992
single work
review
— Appears in: Christian Science Monitor , 26 August 1992; (p. 13)
— Review of Longleg 1990 single work novel
-
Names, Initials and Anonymity
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: Voices , Autumn vol. 1 no. 1 1991; (p. 90-94)
— Review of Velvet Waters 1990 selected work short story ; Longleg 1990 single work novel ; Family Lore 1990 single work autobiography ; JF Was Here 1990 single work novel -
A Stateless William
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 11 September vol. 112 no. 5731 1990; (p. 160-161)
— Review of Longleg 1990 single work novel -
Marks of Experience
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25 August 1990; (p. 73)
— Review of Longleg 1990 single work novel ; A Lease of Summer 1990 single work novel -
Quest for Identity Tugs at the Heart
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Herald , 9 September 1990; (p. 33)
— Review of Longleg 1990 single work novel -
Mother and Son
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , July vol. 70 no. 1006 1990; (p. 22)
— Review of Longleg 1990 single work novel -
Subject Matters
1995
single work
criticism
essay
— Appears in: A Sense of Difference 1995; (p. 15-23) The author offers comments on the writing process in five Australian novels by women writers. She stresses that her comments are those of a practitioner reflecting on the work of friends. -
Fiddling with Words
Cassandra Pybus
(interviewer),
1991
single work
interview
— Appears in: Island , Winter no. 47 1991; (p. 20-25) -
Time Travellers
1990
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Sunday Herald (Sunday Review) , 2 December 1990; (p. 37) -
The Goodbye Girl
1996
single work
column
biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 16 March 1996; (p. 9s) -
Odyssey of Discovery Turns Its Full Circle
1990
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 8-9 September 1990; (p. rev 5)
Awards
- 1991 joint winner NBC Banjo Awards — NBC Banjo Award for Fiction
- 1990 winner The Age Book of the Year Award — Fiction Prize
- Europe,
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cEngland,ccUnited Kingdom (UK),cWestern Europe, Europe,
- Sydney, New South Wales,
- 1930s
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s