AustLit

'Gotham tells of the encounter between music journalist, Jeff Foster and ‘boy pharaoh’, Nasti Boi. It reveals how hollow celebrities cast their spell.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'He set the camera up by the wall in the space he used as his studio. It was one of the many rooms in the too-big house he didn't need. It was mostly empty - the wallpaper left to peel away from the walls, the plaster to crack and the dust left undusted. In the light that came in elongated grids through the barred windows I watched him move around the room beneath me, holding up the light meter to gauge the exposures...' (Publication abstract)

'My oar stabs the side of the Reliance. We push off and pull away from the ship. Venus is out, but the sky still has some light. Mr Bass and I boat the oars and hoist sail. The Lieutenant takes the helm. Tom Thumb's sail snaps at the breeze and air-filled we bounce across the water...' (Publication abstract)

'The plane is moving backwards. Slowly. You have to stare at the ground to confirm it. Yes, the luggage vans and fuel trucks are edging right to left across your window...' (Publication abstract)

'Luke crosses his arms against the bluster and stares out across the grey. Even on the hottest days in summer, when dozens of people come here to walk their dogs or jog or fish or set up barbeques with their damn kids screaming everywhere, this bench just stands here empty. It seems to wait for him, as if his own name is gouged across its grain rather than Beck's and Ahmed's and Sol's and Renee's. Luke hugs himself and squints through the gritty spray. A rock wall ties one side of the lake to the other, dividing the water in two. A man sits in the middle of the wall, in the middle of the lake, fishing. Luke watches him, then looks over him to the twisted white gums drowned along the far bank. He studies the gums, studies them hard...' (Publication abstract)