The Demidenko Debate by Andrew Riemer

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Small scratch to front cover near spine. Underlining in pen on some pages. Pages have sunned.

The Hand That Signed the Paper is arguably the most controversial book ever published in Australia. Certainly, the book and its author have received an extraordinary amount of critical attention, both favourable and hostile, and have inspired a debate even more wide-ranging than the subject matter of the book itself.

It is this debate that Andrew Riemer seeks to place within a larger context than simply the scandal and controversy around the novel, its author and its public reception. The Demidenko Debate examines The Hand That Signed the Paper in the light of contemporary literary practice.

Riemer does not shrink from addressing the most important and sensitive issues as he looks at the novel's ideological implications and the distinction between fiction and propaganda; what responsibilities writers have towards history and public opinion; the nature of literary prizes and awards, and the relationship between a work of imagination and the real or assumed personality of an author. (back cover)