AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Lally has invested everything into her gallery in Manhattan and the sacrifices are finally paying off. Pat is a scholarship boy desperate to establish himself in Sydney's antiquities scene. When they meet at New York's Armory Show their chemistry is instant - fighting about art and politics is just foreplay.
'With an ocean between them they try to get back to work, but they're each struggling to balance money and ambition with the love of art that first drew them to their strange industry. Lally is a kingmaker, bringing exciting new talent to the world, so what's the problem if it's also making her rich? Pat can barely pay his rent and he isn't sure if he's taking advantage of his clients or if they are taking advantage of him, and which would be worse? Their international affair ebbs and flows like the market, while their aspirations and insecurities are driving them both towards career-ending mistakes.
'If love costs and art takes, what price do we pay for wanting it all? The Work is about the biggest intersections of life: of art and commerce, of intimacy and distance, of talent and entitlement, and of labour and privilege. Dazzling, funny and unforgettable, it is an epic and forensic exploration of modern love and passion, politics and power. The Work announces a brilliant new voice in Australian fiction.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Critics, Cancellation and Cleanskin Wine : the Australian Novels Satirising the Art World
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 25 April 2024;
— Review of The Work 2024 single work novel ; Appreciation 2024 single work novel'New books from Bri Lee and Liam Pieper reach into the frictions and follies of the art industry. But are they fact or fantasy?'
-
Bri Lee The Work
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 13-19 April 2024;
— Review of The Work 2024 single work novel'The Work is the debut novel of Bri Lee, an accomplished nonfiction writer and public intellectual. It’s set between Sydney and Manhattan, in a milieu where art matters but money rules. It offers up steamy sex and cold characters along with some great lines (“Life had clearly been generous to Sophie, but not kind”) and some absolute clunkers (“When some cunt’s passing offered to fast-track you a few rungs up the ladder of life, you didn’t look a dead gift horse in the mouth”). Relationships in The Work are highly transactional across a range of currencies – sex, prestige, actual money – and yet true love conquers all.' (Introduction)
-
Bri Lee’s and Louise Milligan’s Predictable First Novels Combine Noughties Feminist Politics with the Swagger of 80s Bonkbusters
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 16 April 2024;
— Review of The Work 2024 single work novel ; Pheasants Nest 2024 single work novel -
The Work by Bri Lee Review – Satirical Art World Romp Tries to Tick Too Many Boxes
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 12 April 2024;
— Review of The Work 2024 single work novel'A novel that’s torn between two books – one is a half-hearted skewering of money and power, the other a modern romance'
-
‘Candid’, ‘Remarkable’, ‘Beguiling’ : The Best Australian Books Out in April
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 5 April 2024;
— Review of Black Duck : A Year at Yumburra 2024 single work autobiography ; Hope 2024 single work autobiography ; The End of the Morning 2024 single work novel ; The White Cockatoo Flowers : Stories 2024 selected work short story ; The Work 2024 single work novel
-
‘Candid’, ‘Remarkable’, ‘Beguiling’ : The Best Australian Books Out in April
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 5 April 2024;
— Review of Black Duck : A Year at Yumburra 2024 single work autobiography ; Hope 2024 single work autobiography ; The End of the Morning 2024 single work novel ; The White Cockatoo Flowers : Stories 2024 selected work short story ; The Work 2024 single work novel -
The Work by Bri Lee Review – Satirical Art World Romp Tries to Tick Too Many Boxes
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 12 April 2024;
— Review of The Work 2024 single work novel'A novel that’s torn between two books – one is a half-hearted skewering of money and power, the other a modern romance'
-
Bri Lee’s and Louise Milligan’s Predictable First Novels Combine Noughties Feminist Politics with the Swagger of 80s Bonkbusters
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 16 April 2024;
— Review of The Work 2024 single work novel ; Pheasants Nest 2024 single work novel -
Bri Lee The Work
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 13-19 April 2024;
— Review of The Work 2024 single work novel'The Work is the debut novel of Bri Lee, an accomplished nonfiction writer and public intellectual. It’s set between Sydney and Manhattan, in a milieu where art matters but money rules. It offers up steamy sex and cold characters along with some great lines (“Life had clearly been generous to Sophie, but not kind”) and some absolute clunkers (“When some cunt’s passing offered to fast-track you a few rungs up the ladder of life, you didn’t look a dead gift horse in the mouth”). Relationships in The Work are highly transactional across a range of currencies – sex, prestige, actual money – and yet true love conquers all.' (Introduction)
-
Critics, Cancellation and Cleanskin Wine : the Australian Novels Satirising the Art World
2024
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 25 April 2024;
— Review of The Work 2024 single work novel ; Appreciation 2024 single work novel'New books from Bri Lee and Liam Pieper reach into the frictions and follies of the art industry. But are they fact or fantasy?'
-
Bri Lee : ‘Writing about Getting Molested Is Why I Now Enjoy Artistic Freedom. That’s Cooked’
Sian Cain
(interviewer),
2024
single work
interview
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 2 April 2024;'In the lead-up to the release of her first novel, the author talks about art, cynicism and the human fascination with pain'
-
Manhattan,
New York (City),
New York (State),
cUnited States of America (USA),cAmericas,