Author(s): Murray Bail

Australian Fiction

Shadbolt, Holden. Gender: male. Age: 34.
Model: Australian. No frills.

Holden's Performance is the sprawling life story of Holden Shadbold: a hilarious all-Australian trajectory from car maniac to cinema bouncer to Prime Ministerial bodyguard. Guileless and matter of fact, Holden is fated to follow the flamboyant people around him- ex-Corporal McBee, who zealously woos Holden's mother; his Uncle Vern, a short-sighted proof -reader with a fondness for eating the morning paper with his cereal; and Harriet, the crippled poster artist, whose twists and curves intersect with Holden's unswervingly straight lines...