Fiction: The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
by Sampsonia Way / June 27, 2011 / No comments
Told from eight different points of view, Christos Tsiolkas‘ The Slap begins at a barbecue in a Melbourne suburb when a man loses his temper and smacks a child. The parents take the man to court. The act triggers a series of repercussions in the lives of the people who witness the event, causing them to reassess their values, expectations, and desires. Tsiolkas fills in the back-stories of his diverse cast of characters while exploring the changing lifestyle of Australia’s middle-class. He also touches on multi-culturalism, homophobia, and infidelity. Winner of the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap is haunting rumination on contemporary family life.
The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. Copyright © 2008 by Christos Tsiolkas. Used by permission of Penguin, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Click here to purchase a copy of The Slap.
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Watch a video of Tsiolkas reading from The Slap at City of Asylum/Pittsburgh
