Craig Sherborne - The Amateur Science of Love

‘Sherborne writes so well that he cannot fail to include colour in the darkness… This is a masterful portrait.’ Sydney Morning Herald

‘Fascinating, funny and unputdownable.’ Sunday Herald Sun

‘Poignant… Little can prepare us for this fine novel’s “heartwrecking puzzle”.’ Weekly Times

‘Absorbing… I can’t fault this book—the characters are solid and believable, the storyline unpredictable and the rural Australian imagery vivid.’ Books+Publishing

‘One of nature’s writers.’ Peter Craven

‘Gruesomely honest and very, very funny.’ Hilary Mantel

‘Mordantly true to life… one of the most interesting autobiographical projects on the go.’ J. M. Coetzee

‘He writes beautifully, especially when the material is not beautiful at all. He can make the cruel truth poetic.’ Clive James

‘Riveting… Moral courage has propelled this book to the page. Its execution is sublime.’ Scotsman

Craig Sherborne’s memoir Hoi Polloi (2005) was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s and Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. The follow-up, Muck (2007), won the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Non-fiction. His first novel, The Amateur Science of Love (2011), won the Melbourne Prize for Literature’s Best Writing Award, and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s and Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Tree Palace , his latest novel, will be published in 2014. Craig has also written two volumes of poetry, Bullion (1995) and Necessary Evil (2005), and a verse drama, Look at Everything Twice for Me (1999). His writing has appeared in most of Australia’s literary journals and anthologies. He lives in Melbourne.

Imprint

textpublishing.com.au

The Text Publishing Company

Swann House

22 William Street

Melbourne Victoria 3000

Australia

Copyright © Craig Sherborne 2011

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright above, no part of this publication shall be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

First published in 2011 by The Text Publishing Company

This edition published 2014

Cover illustration and design by WH Chong

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Author: Sherborne, Craig, 1952-

Title: The amateur science of love / Craig Sherborne.

ISBN: 9781922147776 (pbk.)

Dewey Number: A823.4

Ebook ISBN: 9781921834264