Boy Swallows Universe

The bestselling novel that has taken Australia, and the world, by storm.

Brisbane, 1985: A lost father, a mute brother, a junkie mum, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crim for a babysitter. It's not as if Eli Bell's life isn't complicated enough already. He's just trying to follow his heart and understand what it means to be a good man, but fate keeps throwing obstacles in his way - not the least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary Brisbane drug dealer.

But now Eli's life is going to get a whole lot more serious: he's about to meet the father he doesn't remember, break into Boggo Road Gaol on Christmas Day to rescue his mum, come face to face with the criminals who tore his world apart, and fall in love with the girl of his dreams.

A story of brotherhood, true love and the most unlikely of friendships, Boy Swallows Universe will be the most heartbreaking, joyous and exhilarating novel you will read all year.

2019 ABIA Book of the Year Award, Winner

2019 Indie Book Award, Winner

2019 UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing, NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Winner

2019 People's Choice Award, NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Winner

MUD Literary Prize 2019, Winner

2019 ABIA Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year, Winner

2019 ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, Winner

2019 ABIA Audiobook of the Year, Winner

2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Longlisted

2019 Colin Roderick Award, shortlist

'Boy Swallows Universe is a wonderful surprise: sharp as a drawer full of knives in terms of subject matter; unrepentantly joyous in its child's-eye view of the world; the best literary debut in a month of Sundays.' -- The Australian

'Boy Swallows Universe hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak.' -- Washington Post

'This thrilling novel' -- New York Times Book Review

'Marvelously plot-rich ... filled with beautifully lyric prose... At one point Eli wonders if he is good. The answer is "yes" every bit as good as this exceptional novel.' -- Booklist

'Dalton's splashy, stellar debut makes the typical coming-of-age novel look bland by comparison... This is an outstanding debut.' -- Publisher's Weekly

'Extraordinary and beautiful storytelling' -- Guardian

'The best Australian novel I have read in more than a decade' -- Sydney Morning Herald

'Astonishing, captivating ... a wild, beautiful, heart-exploding ride' -- Elizabeth Gilbert

Trent Dalton is a staff writer for the Weekend Australian Magazine and a former assistant editor of The Courier Mail. He's a two-time winner of a Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism, a four-time winner of a Kennedy Award for Excellence in NSW Journalism and a four-time winner of the national News Awards Features Journalist of the Year. His debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, published by HarperCollins in 2018, is a much-loved national bestseller and critically acclaimed, winning the 2019 Indie Book of the Year Award, the MUD Literary Prize, the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing and the People's Choice Award at the 2019 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. In addition, at the 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards, the book won a record four ABIA Awards, including the prestigious Book of the Year Award. Boy Swallows Universe has been published across thirty-four English language and translation territories. His second novel, All Our Shimmering Skies was published by HarperCollins in October 2020 and is already a national bestseller.

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