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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'The drama begins with a body dumped in south-western Sydney – skinned, with no face. Lewis Lin, taxi driver, photographer, recent arrival from Beijing, happens to be at the scene. With detectives Ginger Rogers and Shelley Swert in pursuit, Lin finds himself drawn into a deadly immigration racket, with a cast which includes a film-maker just in from LA, a Buddhist monk, a millionaire bachelor artist, a masseuse, a maniacal violinist, and a refugee assassin.
Part thriller, part ethnic noir, dark and comic by turns, Original Face offers a sensuous and highly coloured portrait of the jostling energies that make up life in the contemporary Australian city.
Drawing its title from an ancient Zen koan, the novel traces the complicated manoeuvres by which people mask their identities, and the accidental pathways by which these hidden selves come to light.'
Source: Author's website.
Notes
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Dedication: For R B W
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Epigraph: The heart can push the sea and land
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Sections of the novel, in an earlier form, were previously published in Antipodes, refo and dimsum. (Acknowledgements)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille and sound recording.
- Also large print.
Works about this Work
-
Paper(less) Selves : The Refugee in Contemporary Textual Culture
2008
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Kunapipi , vol. 30 no. 1 2008; (p. 58-72) -
Australian Fiction 2005-2006
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 51 no. 2006; (p. 108-119) -
Untitled
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: API Review of Books , July no. 44 2006;
— Review of Original Face 2005 single work novel -
Cover Notes
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 15 January 2006; (p. 16)
— Review of An Uncommon Dialogue 2005 single work autobiography ; Original Face 2005 single work novel -
Soundings from Down Under
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 19 no. 2 2005; (p. 231-235)
— Review of The Wing of Night 2005 single work novel ; An ABC of Lying : Taking Stock in Interesting Times 2004 selected work essay ; Original Face 2005 single work novel ; Invisible Yet Enduring Lilacs : Essays 2005 selected work autobiography essay criticism short story ; The People Singers : The Surfers Paradise Poems 2005 selected work poetry ; The Collected Verse of Mary Gilmore 2004-2007 collected work poetry
-
Opening a Crime-Scene Can Full of Worms
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 8 October 2005; (p. 13)
— Review of Original Face 2005 single work novel -
[Review] Original Face
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , 28 October - 10 November no. 280 2005; (p. 19)
— Review of Original Face 2005 single work novel -
Dark Intrigue in a Little-Known World
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 29-30 October 2005; (p. 24)
— Review of Original Face 2005 single work novel -
Ethnic Noir with a Twist
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 5-6 November 2005; (p. 15)
— Review of Original Face 2005 single work novel -
Skim
2005
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 15 November vol. 123 no. 6496 2005; (p. 68-69)
— Review of Original Face 2005 single work novel ; An Accidental Terrorist 2005 single work novel -
China Syndrome
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 5 November 2005; (p. 11) -
Australian Fiction 2005-2006
2006
single work
review
— Appears in: Westerly , November vol. 51 no. 2006; (p. 108-119) -
Paper(less) Selves : The Refugee in Contemporary Textual Culture
2008
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Kunapipi , vol. 30 no. 1 2008; (p. 58-72)
- Sydney, New South Wales,