Miles Walker Youre Dead

by Linda Jaivin

On the eve of the millennium, Miles Walker has problems. His roommate, Thurston, a moody medievalist, thinks it would be a good career move for Miles to die young. Miles's best friend, the pre-conceptual artist ZakDot, agrees - and the chainsaw-wielding Maddie seems only too happy to help. Then along comes Destiny, the enigmatically beautiful politician who hates art but likes Miles. Now the others really want to kill him. By the time bare buttocks are squeaking over the blackheart sassafras of the prime ministerial dining table, it looks like Miles's fate is sealed.

Genres: Australia, Humor, Fiction

Paperback

First published September 13, 2001

About the author

Linda Jaivin is the author of twelve books, including the forthcoming (May 2021) The Shortest History of China and the novel The Empress Lover, published in April 2014 as well as the travel companion Beijing, published in July 2014. Other major publications include the Quarterly Essay: Found in Translation (late 2013), five novels and a novella, a collection of essays (Confessions of an S&M Virgin) and a China memoir (Monkey and the Dragon). Her first novel was the internationally bestselling comic erotic Eat Me. The Empress Lover follows A Most Immoral Woman, which is set in China and Japan in 1904 and based on a true story. She is also a translator from Chinese and a playwright. She was the winner of the 2014 New South Wales Writers Fellowship.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm beside myself.
This book has been a tonic. I thought of a new word, sartire. Let's hope a new genre springs from Miles Walker, an hilarious satire on the art world and federal politics.
Is 'Fuck me dead', an Australian expression or is the term part of the vernacular elsewhere?
If Clean Slate supporters have two heads, do they get to vote twice?

One thing's a dead cert. My next solo I'm having the No Names tribe of naked feral women trackers opening the exhibition.

This delightful satire should be made into a mini-series. Five stars.

[Jason Pym · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satire of the modern art world. It has it's flaws, but definitely entertaining and I do love the idea of ZakDot - an artist who doesn't make any actual physical art just thinks about the art work in his head. This is a joke about something that has always bothered me about conceptual art - if the idea is more important than the execution, and the artists usually go out of their way to make work only appreciated by a tiny collection of aesthetes, wouldn't the logical conclusion of this be to just make art in your head for an audience of one?

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great. Lots of action, lots of fantasy (about living in an Australia where art is more important than sport), lots of art, humour and intelligence.

[Geoff Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky and witty. It’s a great book to imagine you’re way through. It would be enhanced with an Who’s Who of artists and their styles, given that famous art works are used as adjectives in the text. I read it in an e-reader so with Google search a highlighted text away, I learned heaps about art. Very funny. Switch on your brain and enjoy the ride.

[Zoey Blåhaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love insane artists.

[sara frances · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just too weird for me. It was set in our reality, but everything that happens was completely insane and just sorta made my head feel like exploding.

[Olivestarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another nostalgic read by Linda. A quick and fun read!

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book! Extreme cultural satire. Perfect in this political climate.

[Jonah]

This book is laugh out loud funny.