Praise

by Andrew McGahan

Book Overview

The Bukowski-inspired first novel that made McGahan a cult bestseller Down Under, "Praise" is urgent, raw, and piercingly truthful, as it explores the ground between dreams and the self-destruction of an entire generation. A sequel to McGahan's "1988".

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312187548
• ISBN13: 9780312187545
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 279 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Well written and Bukowski light

A well written and engaging novel that is a fast read. I enjoyed this book very much.The tone of the book does get a little dark at times but McGahan keeps it moving along so that it doesn't become oppressive. I loved the first person narration and also that the narrator wasn't totally reliable; you had to second guess him some of the time.I definitely would recommend it to anyone who can handle their prose somewhat raw but very engaging.

Praise? Absolutely!

I'll keep it short- I'm still basking in the afterglow. Brilliant, honest and extremely addictive. An absolute must.

what more can i say?

Praise is about being young in Australia. About living in a world where drugs and alcohol dominate, where sex scalds and soothes, where Social Security is easier to get than a job. Where survival means taking nothing and no one too seriously. This does not mean that it stereotypes all Australians as yobs who have nothing better to do. For all those people who disagree, don't read it. Praise is not about all Australians but one, Gordon. A 23 year old average guy who doesn't really care much about a great deal. Everything he does he doesn't let get to him, that includes his job, his friends, his life. Gordon tells his story of living in New Farm in an old man's complex, sometimes with his friend Cynthia, sometimes with his girlfriend Cynthia. He can't differentiate between the two. He tells us his love of Brisbane. He speaks to us about growing up. He tells us about his whole new world. About the sex, about the drugs, about the eczema. Really it is like following the life of a typical aussie bloke. This does not make him or any other Australian's lower class, this book is excellent well worth reading for people who have an open mind and half a brain.

Read it!!

I read this two years ago and saw the movie recently (doubt it'll be shown in the states - small-budget Australian studio film - though by an American director). Very raw but touching book. I promise, you won't forget Gordon and Cynthia, it's not so much about sex and drugs (although there's plenty of that), but about alienation, love, commitment, real life.

funny, frank, and affirming

Praise is the kind of book rarely seen penned by an author in his early twenties, in that most novels by young authors, even those with talent, usually get bogged down with ego intrusion, pop culture reference, postures, and obvious influences that throw shadows over any distinct voice. McGahan, however, creates a memorable character, Gordon, with a distinct voice, and he does so while managing to avoid any references to fast food restaurants, shopping mall malaise, or underground albums. In itself, this is a victory for the author and reader. Praise reaped deserved acclaim (and awards) from critics, but even in its, uh, praise, the book was shortsightedly categorized as a "slacker," "twentysomething" angst treatise of sorts. Not so. Sure, our hero Gordon spends most of his time on the dole and drinking, but McGahan develops Gordon emotionally (he is distant, fears intimacy, suffers through confused sex, has no confidence) and allows the reader to see these personal shortcomings as the causes of his nonmotivation. This instead of waxing rhapsodic about the fact that we, all 100 gazillion of us folks between 22 and 29, are "slackers" because we've been inundated with television consumerism, have inherited a polluted planet, have witnessed hippies turn to yuppies, and all the other easy, broad blah-blah-isms that most young authors reach for like children for toys. McGahan applies Gordon's nonmotivation to no one but Gordon, and Gordon never once argues that his lot in life is based on the emptiness of a McJob market. McGahan often gets compared to Charles Bukowski, but, truth be told, McGahan is much more talented than Bukowski, who made up for a lack of ability with a stubborn refusal not to write and an amazingly depraved, hard, holy existence. But other than that, Bukowski belongs in the back pockets of would-be rock stars and posing tough guys. Not so with McGahan. He is a true talent, and this book, along with 1988, its prequel, deserve to be discussed for their character development, melancholia, resignation, and humor, not for their author's place alongside pundit-hacks like Douglas Coupland.