Author(s): Janet Frame

New Zealand Fiction | rare & collectable

Dr Talbot Edelman is obsessed by the mechanics of dying. Not his own death, for he is still a young man, but by the memory of his grandfather. He changes his speciality to Death Studies and by operations on his dog, Sally, establishes her as an honorary person. When the dog dies and his girlfriend leaves him in disgust, Talbot comes much closer to the understanding he seeks ua Turnlung is already old, a poet in the streets of New York contemplating his approaching death. For him, the prospect holds no fears. Like Talbot, he, too, looks for greater understanding and finds it in the memories of his childhood. It is perhaps inevitable that the two men should meet. But face to face with HIS own extinction Turnlung finds that he needs a family. It is in Central Park that they find the daughter he has chosen to adopt a Those who have read Janet Frame's autobiography will find much in this absorbing novel that is familiar. It is only on the surface that the author talks of dying: beyond this she explores her fascination in the linked mysteries of language and of life. The result is often very funny, while staggering the reader with insights revealed at every turn.