The Slap : A Novel

At a suburban barbecue one afternoon, a man slaps an unruly three-year-old boy. The boy is not his son. Christos Tsiolkas records what happens next.It is a single act of violence, but the slap reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it. In his remarkable novel, Christos Tsiolkas presents the impact of this apparently minor domestic incident through the eyes of eight characters. The result is an unflinching interrogation of the modern family, a deeply thought-provoking novel of boundaries and their limits."The slap that I wanted to deliver with that book was to a culture in Australia that had literally made me sick, sick to the stomach. A middle class culture that struck me as incredibly selfish and ungenerous ... I wanted to try and write a book ... that represented that culture. And to do that, honestly, I had to put myself in the middle of it. I also had to put my Greekness in the middle of that book. Because I didn’t feel separate from the things that were disgusting me." - Christos Tsiolkas, Journal of Intercultural Studies 2013"[Tsiolkas] holds to a discipline of sympathy with his characters, no matter how repellent they may be, and restricts his own verbal range to the limits of their vocabularies." - Susan Lever, author of Merciless GodsChristos Tsiolkas When he first told his mother he was going to be a writer, she said: ‘You are going to die poor and on the streets’. To date, that outcome looks unlikely. He has written ten books as well as nine works for stage and screen, and The Slap was turned into a successful television series. Tsiolkas acknowledges the importance of his Greek heritage but sees fiction as a way of freeing himself from it. ‘If I can’t write as a woman, a black person, an old man or a young girl, what the hell am I doing writing at all?’ he asks. Read Christos Tsiolkas's blogs on the Penguin Community. Read a review of The Slap on WorldNews.tk. Read a review of The Slap on Timesonline.co.uk. In this powerful and riveting novel, literary phenomenon Christos Tsiolkas unflinchingly exposes the inner- workings of domestic life, friendship and parenthood in the twenty-first century, and reminds us of the passions and malice that family loyalty can provoke. When a man slaps another couple's child at a neighborhood barbecue, the event send unforeseeable shockwaves through the lives of all who are witness to it. Told from the points of view of eight people who were present, The Slap shows how a single action can change the way people think about how they live, what they want, and what they believe forever. "Tsiolkas is a hard-edged, powerful writer. The novel transcends both suburban Melbourne and the Australian continent, leaving us exhausted but gasping with admiration." 'Washington Post "This astute exploration of suburban aspirations and failings ... vividly demonstrates the wide-ranging effects of a single moment's rash decision. ... Beyond simply igniting the plot, the fateful slap draws attention to generational and philosophical differences regarding family life and the complex political, social, and ethnic milieu of contemporary Australia." 'Publishers Weekly "Radiates with vitality as it depicts the messy complications of family life." 'Booklist "Complex and multilayered. intertwined lives and slowly revealed connections make for a singular reading experience." 'Library Journal "Wildly energetic and fearless, thrillingly about our lives now." ' Helen Garner, author of The Spare Room "A gripping suburban fable." ' Men's Style "Strikingly tender ... it claws into you with its freshness and truth."'Sydney Morning Herald The basis for the NBC event series directed by Lisa Cholodenko and starring Uma Thurman, Peter Sarsgaard, and Zachary Quinto. In this powerful and riveting novel reminiscent of Liane Moriarty's Truly, Madly, Guilty , literary phenomenon Christos Tsiolkas unflinchingly exposes the inner workings of domestic life, friendship, and parenthood in the twenty-first century, and reminds us of the passions and malice that family loyalty can provoke. When a man slaps another couple’s child at a neighborhood barbecue, the event send unforeseeable shock waves through the lives of all who are witness to it. Told from the points of view of eight people who were present, The Slap shows how a single action can change the way people think about how they live, what they want, and what they believe forever. At a festive barbecue in the Melbourne suburb a man slaps the child of another couple, triggering a court case and a variety of confrontations within the lives of the the families and friends present