A Bone of Fact

David Walsh

$79.99

Hardback

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English

Picador
01 October 2014

Autobiography: general; Memoirs; Biography - Australian

ABBEY'S CHOICE OCTOBER 2014 ----- David Walsh - the creator of The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart - is both a giant and an enigma in the Australian art world. A multi-millionaire who made his money gambling, David turned a wild vision into a unique reality. He is in turns controversial, mysterious and idolised.

A Bone of Fact is his utterly unconventional and absorbing memoir, about which he says:

'By some great good fortune (mine, not yours) you hold in your hands my story, credible I think, but not extraordinary (despite what those avaricious publishers might have you believe). I have captured your attention: maybe you have some resonance with MONA, or maybe good graphical design partly seized your day. To extract 55 bucks from you, I need to say something clever, but I can't think of anything.

So I'll seduce you with a tale of another, cleverer, writer. Stanislaw Lem, noted Polish science fiction author and notorious smartarse, once told an American colleague that his new collection of short stories would be published in a paper bag. This conjured a mental picture of the stories being selected by lucky dip. The idea that my life story could be told that way, without a disabling manifesto, is appealing.

Unfortunately, Mr Lem had actually said 'paperback' (his meaning concealed beneath his thick accent), a wholly ordinary practice to deliver extraordinary stories. My story lacks Mr Lem's magical reality and philosophy, and it also lacks a paper bag. You should buy it anyway, if you are at least mildly curious as to why I want you to give me more money, even though I'm already rich. But if you happen to read Polish, you could probably do better reading Lem. Incidentally, Polish is one of the few words that changes its pronunciation when you change the first letter from upper case to lower case. If you are in Natal or Nice, you can probably think of another. But surely, if you are in Natal or Nice, you have better things to do than lurk in bookshops. Get out of here, but take me with you. I promise to treat you nice. But not so nice that you'll need to go to a natal clinic.'

A Bone of Fact by David Walsh at Abbey's Bookshop 131 York Street, Sydney

By: David Walsh
Imprint: Picador
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 230mm, Width: 172mm, Spine: 39mm
Weight: 1.257kg
ISBN: 9781742612911
ISBN 10: 1742612911
Publication Date: 01 October 2014
Audience: General/trade , General/trade , ELT Advanced , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

David Walsh is a mathematician, gambler and gallery owner from Hobart.