Fresh Fields

By Peter Kocan

Book Overview

"A stark, harrowing, yet deeply courageous work of immense power and magnitude."-- Quadrant Homeless and alone, a disturbed youth drifts between town and the Australian outback, growing increasingly isolated and distrustful in a society lacking the means and seemingly the will to help him. He is coerced by strange voices and haunted by a history of family violence. This compelling coming-of-age novel tells Peter Kocan's own story, offering us an intimate portrait of the dark forces at work in the evolution of a loner. "No more authentic study of this type of loner exists," wrote the Times , naming Fresh Fields its book of the year in 2005. " Taxi Driver is a melodrama by comparison."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 193337229X
• ISBN13: 9781933372297
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Europa Editions
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.1"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Alone but not lonely

Maybe he is lonely. He fantasizes about having a good friend, and a sweetheart. He has absorbing conversations with people, but they are all in his head. He prefers to be by himself, is afraid much of the time. He retreats from human contact. He is not lonely. He is only fourteen, on his own in the world, voluntarily separated from his family, who were content to have him leave. Occupied by his thoughts, observing the world and reading, he thinks and matures. He is frequently moved to tears by seeing, at a remove, the actions of humanity. He experiences kindness from strangers, and he becomes more able to accept it. He finds some joy in life, though still by himself. But the hard reality of life is always there, and one of his imaginary friends may be giving him bad advice. If you can relate to loners, or maybe you, too, feel always outside, never accepted, wonder why you're not normal but would you want to be even if you could, then you should read this book. And you should see Jane Campion's film, An Angel at My Table - Criterion Collection