Longlisted for the 2017 Stella Prize

Wasted – Elspeth Muir

Nonfiction · Text Publishing

Wasted

About the book

“Questions about celebration, bravado and the mitigation of intoxication from within and outside the family are raised in this engaging, generous and multifaceted book.

– 2017 Stella Prize Judges

About the author


Elspeth Muir

Further Reading



“The prose style of this unheralded writer, whose previous work has been published in journals such as Voiceworks and The Lifted Brow, is so achingly beautiful and assured, Helen Garner might be pleased to hand her the keys to the creative nonfiction kingdom and ride off into the Carlton sunset.” The Saturday Paper

“Wasted is a vital, poignant piece of social commentary, and is essential reading for every Australian who drinks.” Domenic Amerena, Sydney Morning Herald

“To write honestly about trauma is no easy feat, but Muir conveys her grief and its inherent elusiveness without pandering to conventional expectations.” Bronte Coats, Readings

“In her research-memoir hybrid, Wasted: a Story of Alcohol, Grief and a Death in Brisbane, Elspeth Muir sifts through her own tattered consciousness, hunting for what has been lost. Her younger brother Alexander may well have been in a blackout himself when he left his clothes in a pile on Brisbane’s Story Bridge and either jumped or fell. Discovering which became his sister’s mission.” Jenny Valentish, The Lifted Brow Online

Links

Read an extract

Listen to Elspeth Muir on RN’s Life Matters

Listen to Elspeth Muir speak with Richard Fidler on ABC radio

Elspeth Muir speaks with Guardian Australia

Judges’ report


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