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y separately published work icon Praise single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1992... 1992 Praise
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Praise is an utterly frank and darkly humorous novel about being young in the Australian of the 1990s. A time when the dole was easier to get than a job, when heroin was better known than ecstasy, and when ambition was the dirtiest of words. A time when, for two hopeless souls, sex and dependence were the only lifelines.' (from back cover)

Adaptations

form y separately published work icon Praise Andrew McGahan , ( dir. John Curran ) Australia : Emcee Films , 1999 Z938781 1999 single work film/TV humour Within the confines of a seedy Brisbane boarding house, Gordon, the inert protagonist, and his demanding, eczema-suffering girlfriend Cynthia repeatedly attempt to connect with each other. Unlike other films portraying sex in a rather open and frank way, Praise is less about sex than about failure. Being a loser has been a regular mainstay of independent films for a long time, but this film attempts to expose the emotional strata rather than the social aspects. Cynthia's crudeness becomes the expression of self-defeating behaviour and Gordon's torpor is played for much more than laughs from the audience. Praise is in many ways an era-defining Australian film, accurately portraying and examining the contemporary landscape of heterosexual love and the blurring of traditional gender roles and emotional states.

Notes

  • Dedication: For Sam For Darwin
  • Author's Note: As far as I know, there is no Capital Hotel in Brisbane. All the other pubs and Brisbane localities mentioned in the book are real.However, characters who are described throughout as working in these establishments are entirely fictional. They are not meant to bear any resemblance whatsoever to people who work, or have worked, in any of these places.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       Carroll and Graf ,       1993 .
      image of person or book cover 8198051121356943896.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      Extent: 279p.
      ISBN: 0881849383
    • St Leonards, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 1995 .
      image of person or book cover 3064981586081929804.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 279p.
      Edition info: 2nd ed.
      Reprinted: 2000
      ISBN: 1864480114
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,      :       St. Martin's Griffin ,       1998 .
      image of person or book cover 5086547985620680239.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      ISBN: 0312187548
    • St Leonards, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 1999 .
      image of person or book cover 1774115743157397098.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 279p.
      ISBN: 1865080063
    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2005 .
      image of person or book cover 7088979625102341272.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 279p.
      ISBN: 1741147727
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Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.
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Related Works

Bait Andrew McGahan , 1992 single work drama
— Appears in: The White Earth [and] Bait 2009; (p. 85-143)
y separately published work icon 1988 Andrew McGahan , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 1995 Z77695 1995 single work novel (taught in 4 units) 'It's the Bicentennial year and for Gorden - failed writer and bottleshop boy - it seems his life is going nowhere. It's time to escape. From his overcrowded house, from Brisbane, from Expo '88, from everything. He stumbles into Wayne who has connections in Darwin and the promise of work. So the two of them head north towards swamps and crocodiles and sandflies innumerable, in search of inspiration, and of their rightful place in the culture of a nation.' (from back cover)
Andrew McGahan: 'Praise' Andrew McGahan , 2000 extract novel (Praise)
— Appears in: Mixed Grain: Celebrating 20 Years of 'The Australian' Vogel Literary Award 2000; (p. 97-103)
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (3)

Works about this Work

London, Paris, Bracken Ridge—Nothing Ever Happens Here Liam Ferney , 2019 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2019;
The Making of Praise : An Aussie Grunge Classic Erin Free , 2017 single work column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 18 August 2017;
Static or Grunge Revisited Ronald Blaber , 2015 single work essay
— Appears in: ‘Whaddaya Know?’ : Writings for Syd Harrex 2015; (p. 149-167)
I Don't Give a Fuck : The Vogel Goes Grunge Neil Boyack , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Telling Stories : Australian Life and Literature 1935–2012 2013; (p. 459-464)
Engaging the Metaphorical City : Brisbane Male Fiction 1975-2007 Susan Carson , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Sweat : The Subtropical Imaginary 2011; (p. 45-53) 'Brisbane writers and writing are increasingly represented as important to the city's identity as a site of urban cool, at least in marketing and public relations paradigms. It is therefore remarkable that recent Brisbane fiction clings strongly to a particular relationship to the climatic and built environment that is often located in the past and which seemingly turns away, or at least elides, the 'new' technologically-driven Brisbane. Literary Brisbane is often depicted in the context of nostalgia for the Brisbane that once was—a tropical, timbered, luxuriant city in which sex is associated with heat, and, in particular, sweat. In this writing sweat can produced by adrenaline or heat, but in particular, in Brisbane novels, it is the sweat of sex that characterises the literary city. Given that Brisbane is in fact a subtropical city, it is interesting that metaphors of a tropical climate and vegetation occur so frequently in Brisbane stories (and narratives set in other parts of the state) that writer Thea Astley was prompted at one point to remark that Queensland writing was in danger of developing into a tropical cliché.' Susan Carson.
Sites of Resistance Jennifer Livett , 1993 single work review
— Appears in: Island , Winter no. 55 1993; (p. 66-69)
— Review of The Crocodile Fury Beth Yahp , 1992 single work novel ; Praise Andrew McGahan , 1992 single work novel ; Maestro Peter Goldsworthy , 1989 single work novel ; Illicit Passage Alice Nunn , 1992 single work novel
Personal Dispatches Ashley Hay , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The Independent Monthly , April vol. 5 no. 9 1994; (p. 86-89)
— Review of Au Pair Fiona McGregor , 1993 single work novel ; Praise Andrew McGahan , 1992 single work novel ; The Mule's Foal Fotini Epanomitis , 1993 single work novel ; Nature Strip Leonie Stevens , 1994 single work novel
Characters of Different Boards Katharine England , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser Magazine , 22 August 1992; (p. 11)
— Review of Shadows Ian McFarlane , 1992 single work novel ; Praise Andrew McGahan , 1992 single work novel
The Winning Ways of Failed Utopians Michael Sharkey , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 June 1992; (p. rev 6)
— Review of Praise Andrew McGahan , 1992 single work novel
Misplaced Praise for Voyeur's Delight Helen Daniel , 1992 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 4 July 1992; (p. 7)
— Review of Praise Andrew McGahan , 1992 single work novel
Moving on to the Land Michelle Griffin , 2004 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 1 May 2004; (p. 3)
'How Small the Light of Home' : Andrew McGahan and the Politics of Guilt James Ley , 2006 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 280 2006; (p. 35-39)
Literature Joan Kirkby , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: Americanization and Australia 1998; (p. 228-244)
Sex in the City : Sexual Predation in Contemporary Australian Grunge Fiction Jean-François Vernay , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Aumla , May no. 107 2007; (p. 145-158) 'This essay will focus on the sexuality of grunge fiction characters, and will examine the relationship of this focus to issues of embodiment, culture and urban spaces' (146).
A City in Its Own Write Phil Brown , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: Brisbane News , 6 - 12 May no. 733 2009; (p. 12-13)
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Awards

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Last amended 24 Jun 2014 11:49:48
Subjects:
Settings:
  • Brisbane, Queensland,
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