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Quote by Jon Doust

“The novel is apparently autobiographical and is being publicised as such but Doust has done with his material what so many autobiographical novelists fail to do: he has turned it into a shapely story, with no extraneous material or diversions and with an absolutely consistent and convincing narrative voice.’ — Sydney Morning Herald”

Quote by Jon Doust

Book:Boy on a Wire
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Boy on a Wire

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Jon Doust

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“Maybe he showed up because I needed him, not just for play, but to shield me from another voice entirely. Maybe Colonel O'Truth was a product of protection from the terrifying God I encountered at the Catholic church in the form of statues and crucifixes, or the stories my grandmother and mother were always telling me about how He was going to punish me if I misbehaved. Regardless of where he came from, the Colonel was a comforting voice.”

FaithFearPsychologyProtectionCatholicismInner Voice
Book:Breaking Building Belonging: Why the Voices We Follow Matter
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“The boarding school memoir or novel is an enduring literary subgenre, from 1950s classics such as The Catcher in the Rye to Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep. Doust’s recognisably Australian contribution to the genre draws on his own experiences in a West Australian boarding school in this clever, polished, detail-rich debut novel. From the opening pages, the reader is wholly transported into the head of Jack Muir, a sensitive, sharp-eyed boy from small-town WA who is constantly measured (unfavourably) against his goldenboy brother. The distinctive, masterfully inhabited adolescent narrator recalls the narrator in darkly funny coming-of-age memoir Hoi Polloi (Craig Sherborne)—as does the juxtaposition of stark naivety and carefully mined knowingness.’ — Bookseller+Publisher”

Boarding SchoolBoy On A WireJon Doust
Book:Boy on a Wire
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“As for Gus, he had come to Haddan with no appreciation for the human race and no expectations of his fellow man. He was full ready to confront contempt; he'd been beleaguered and insulted often enough to have learned to ignore anything with a heartbeat. Still, every once in a while he made an exception, as he did with Carlin Leander. He appreciated everything about Carlin and lived for the hour when they left their books and sneaked off to the graveyard. Not even the crow nesting in the elm tree could dissuade him from his mission, for when he was beside Carlin, Gus acquired a strange optimism; in the light of her radiance the rest of the world began to shine. For a brief time, bad faith and human weakness could be forgotten or, at the very least, temporarily ignored. When it came time to go back to their rooms, Gus followed on the path, holding on to each moment, trying his best to stretch out time. Standing in the shadows of the rose arbor in order to watch Carlin climb back up the fire escape at St. Anne's, his heart ached. He could tell he was going to be devastated, and yet he was already powerless. Carlin always turned and waved before she stepped through her window and Gus Pierce always waved back, like a common fool, an idiot of a boy who would have done anything to please her.”

LoveGirlMomentExpectationDevastatedBoyBoarding School
Book:The River King
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“I'm never going to send my children to boarding school. The boys can go to P.S. 148 with gangsters, and then go to Columbia & the girls can go to Hunter College and they'll all be morons but at least they wont have to tear around and get their teeth knocked out playing hockey every day. [Letter to R. Beverley Corbin, Jr, 3 October 1946]”

HumorParentingSarcasmPublic SchoolBoarding SchoolTeenage AngstPenpalsJackie KennedyHunter College
Author:Jackie Kennedy Onassis
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