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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'An early exchange of Christmas presents leads to a violent outcome for a young drunk couple. A schoolboy finds himself at the centre of a cruel playground bullying ritual. A teenage girl lies to her mother about a sexual assault involving her little sister. A father ruins grand final day for the son who idolises him.
'The thirteen stories in Luke Johnson’s debut collection do not shy away from life’s brutalities. Nor do they overlook those moments of genuine intimacy, humour and revelation that imbue the tragic with purpose and with pathos. Set in regional Australia in an era before mobile phones and the internet, these stories will remind you of who and what we are beneath all the cool digital interfaces: animals, burning with ferocity for a mouthful of life’s flesh.'
Source : publisher's blurb
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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A Thing or Two about Collisions
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Text : Journal of the Australian Association of Writing Programs , vol. 26 no. 1 2022;
— Review of Ferocious Animals 2021 selected work short story 'Luke Johnson’s debut collection, Ferocious Animals, explores Australia and Australian national identity in all of its complexities and contradictions. It comprises thirteen short stories that embroil deeply flawed characters in tragic circumstances of loss and grief, sexual violence, neglect, abuse and infidelity while offering rare glimpses of compassion and tenderness. Through narration that activates the vulnerabilities of childhood, the turbulence of adolescence, and the dysfunction of adulthood, Johnson weaves compelling stories that explore innocence, indecency, and the generative spaces between, in prose that is equal parts delicate and brutal. At its heart, Ferocious Animals is a collection compiled under a framework of collisions, where the bright euphoria of human joy, connection, and intimacy meets and intersects with darker revelations of what horrors humans can inflict on one another.'(Introduction)
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Liminal Encounters : Short Story Collections by Paige Clark, Merlinda Bobis, and Luke Johnson
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 438 2021; (p. 35-36)
— Review of She Is Haunted 2021 selected work short story ; The Kindness of Birds 2021 selected work short story ; Ferocious Animals 2021 selected work short story
-
Liminal Encounters : Short Story Collections by Paige Clark, Merlinda Bobis, and Luke Johnson
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , December no. 438 2021; (p. 35-36)
— Review of She Is Haunted 2021 selected work short story ; The Kindness of Birds 2021 selected work short story ; Ferocious Animals 2021 selected work short story -
A Thing or Two about Collisions
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Text : Journal of the Australian Association of Writing Programs , vol. 26 no. 1 2022;
— Review of Ferocious Animals 2021 selected work short story 'Luke Johnson’s debut collection, Ferocious Animals, explores Australia and Australian national identity in all of its complexities and contradictions. It comprises thirteen short stories that embroil deeply flawed characters in tragic circumstances of loss and grief, sexual violence, neglect, abuse and infidelity while offering rare glimpses of compassion and tenderness. Through narration that activates the vulnerabilities of childhood, the turbulence of adolescence, and the dysfunction of adulthood, Johnson weaves compelling stories that explore innocence, indecency, and the generative spaces between, in prose that is equal parts delicate and brutal. At its heart, Ferocious Animals is a collection compiled under a framework of collisions, where the bright euphoria of human joy, connection, and intimacy meets and intersects with darker revelations of what horrors humans can inflict on one another.'(Introduction)
Last amended 3 Jun 2021 14:57:10
