‘A hugely talented author.’ —Sarah Waters

‘Michelle de Kretser is a genius—one of the best writers working today. She is startlingly, uncannily good at naming and facing what is most difficult and precious about our lives. Theory & Practice is a wonder, a brilliant book that reinvents itself again and again, stretching the boundaries of the novel to show the ways in which ideas and ideals are folded into our days, as well as the times when our choices fail to meet them. There’s no writer I’d rather read.’ —V.V. Ganeshananthan, author of Women's Prize for Fiction and Carol Shields Prize award-winning Brotherless Night

‘In the midst of a late coming-of-age plot effervescent with romantic and intellectual misadventure, de Kretser considers memory—how we enshrine our cultural heroes and how we tell ourselves the stories of our own lives—with absolute rigor and perfect clarity. Structurally innovative and totally absorbing, this is a book that enlivens the reader to every kind of possibility. I savored every word.’ —Jennifer Croft, author of The Extinction of Irena Rey

‘Michelle de Kretser, one of the best writers in the English language, has written her most brilliant book yet. It is, in short, a masterpiece.’ —Neel Mukherjee

‘One of the living masters of the art of fiction.’ —Max Porter

‘Thrillingly original.’ —Sigrid Nunez, author of The Vulnerables

‘Sharp-witted and mesmerising…The narrator’s clever political insights and beautiful depictions of art and literature offer readers a view into a captivating mind. De Kretser is at the top of her game.’ —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

‘4.5 stars. An innovation blend of fiction, memoir and non-fiction…One of the characters says at one stage, “I’m going to focus on making art that doesn’t look like art”, which is what de Kretser has successfully achieved. Her spare, deceptively ingenuous prose works to convey the character’s inner world of conflicting ideologies, cultural contradictions and longing, with authority.’ —Good Reading

‘Prepare to have your preconceived notions of what a novel can be shattered as you delve into this extraordinary work.’ —Conscious Living Magazine

‘Brilliant and mesmerising.’ —Gleaner