And You May Find Yourself
Sleepers Publishing, $24.95 pb, 314 pp, 9780994287915
And You May Find Yourself by Paul Dalgarno
Writing about masculinity is difficult. But Paul Dalgarno, a founding editor at The Conversation, accepted the challenge. In And You May Find Yourself, he expresses truths which never seem trite or indulged.
The book describes the author's relationship with his father, as well as the flaky bond he shares with his wife and sons. These anxieties are set against Dalgarno's relocation from Scotland to Melbourne. Dalgarno writes with hostility and anger, but the prose is often tender, and always candid. He pokes fun at male stereotypes: at school in Scotland Dalgarno formed a gang, notable for glue-sniffing, aggression, and the group-think of its members. But each boy must have been hiding something, as Dalgarno certainly was: he narrates his progress to the soundtrack of West Side Story.
Continue reading for only $2.50 per week. Subscribe and gain full access to Australian Book Review. Already a subscriber? Sign in. If you need assistance, feel free to contact us.
Leave a comment
If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.
If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.
Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.