I Want Everything

(Paperback)

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Description

It starts with a lie. One small lie to get everything he wants. But one lie leads to another, and another. Caught in his own web of deception, how can he recognise the truth And what is it going to cost him

The legendary career of reclusive cult author Brenda Shales remains one of Australias last unsolved literary mysteries. Her books took the literary world by storm before she disappeared from the public eye, after a mysterious plagiarism case. But when an ambitious young writer stumbles across Brenda at a Melbourne pool, he realises the scoop of a lifetime is floating in front of him: the truth behind why she vanished without a trace. The only problem He must pretend to be someone hes not to trick the story out of her.

One innocent lie leads to a slew that are definitively not, as Brenda reveals the strange and troubling truth of where her books came from. Yet the more the young author unravels about Brendas past, the more he begins to question whether Brenda is a reliable narrator. Is Brenda spilling secrets or spinning tales Is she, like him, little more than a talented thief Just who is deceiving whom To write the book which will make his name, he must balance his ethics and ambition and decide what hes willing to sacrifice to become the next great Australian writer.

This astonishing debut, full of delicious twists and wicked insights, is a dazzling novel of desire and deception, authorship and authenticity, and the costs of creative ambition.

Reviews

How I loved this novel about books, writing, and the literary life in all its corrupted glory. Seamlessly crafted, confident and original, I Want Everything took my breath away. -- Sofie Laguna, Miles Franklin-winning author of The Eye of the Sheep
A delightful literary puzzle, posed to the reader in vibrant and clear-cut prose. Authenticity, the demonic past and the treacherous body come under wry examination. It's rare for a writer to be this good both at crafting a sentence and at making you want to read the next one. -- Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times and The Happy Couple
Composed with stylistic brilliance and structural ingenuity, I Want Everything is that rare thing, a great contemporary novel. While it is first and foremost a hilarious, complex, and profound reflection on the relationship between life and writing, it is also fun to read, entertaining and populated by rich, real characters. Dominic Amerena is a fantastic writer. (Seriously.) -- Lauren Oyler, author of Fake Accounts and No Judgement

Author Bio

Dominic Amerena is an Australian writer whose work has been widely published and anthologised in The Sydney Review of Books, The Saturday Paper, Best Australian Stories, Overland, ABR, The Age, The Australian, The Guardian and The Lifted Brow. Dom has won numerous prizes, scholarships, fellowships, and grants, including the Hawthornden Fellowship, the inaugural Speculate Prize, an Australia Council New Work Grant and the Alan Marshall Short Story Award. In 2023, Dom completed a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of RMIT. He lives between Melbourne and Athens, Greece.