Theory & Practice
A Novel
Michelle de Kretser
- **A
- New
- York
- Times
- Book
- Review
- Editors'
- Choice"Theory
- &
- Practice
- is
- a
- thrillingly
- original
- hybrid
- work
- that
- seeks
- truthful
- answers
- to
- the
- most
- difficult
- questions
- of
- the
- day—questions
- about
- the
- nature
- of
- love,
- art,
- and
- desire,
- about
- the
- thorny
- cultural
- legacy
- of
- colonialism
- and
- the
- unappeasable
- human
- yearning
- for
- connection."
- —Sigrid
- Nunez,
- author
- of
- The
- VulnerablesA
- new
- novel
- of
- startling
- intelligence
- from
- prizewinning
- Australian
- author
- Michelle
- de
- Kretser,
- following
- a
- writer
- looking
- back
- on
- her
- young
- adulthood
- and
- grappling
- with
- what
- happens
- when
- life
- smashes
- through
- the
- boundaries
- of
- art**It’s
- 1986,
- and
- “beautiful,
- radical
- ideas”
- are
- in
- the
- air.
- The
- narrator
- of
- Theory
- &
- Practice,
- a
- young
- woman
- originally
- from
- Sri
- Lanka,
- arrives
- in
- Melbourne
- for
- graduate
- school
- to
- research
- the
- novels
- of
- Virginia
- Woolf.
- In
- the
- bohemian
- neighborhood
- of
- St.
- Kilda
- she
- meets
- artists,
- activists,
- students—and
- Kit.
- He
- claims
- to
- be
- in
- a
- “deconstructed
- relationship.”
- They
- become
- lovers,
- and
- the
- narrator’s
- feminism
- comes
- up
- against
- her
- jealousy.
- Meanwhile,
- an
- entry
- in
- Woolf’s
- diary
- upends
- what
- the
- narrator
- knows
- about
- her
- literary
- idol,
- and
- throws
- her
- own
- work
- into
- disarray.What
- happens
- when
- our
- desires
- run
- contrary
- to
- our
- beliefs?
- What
- should
- we
- do
- when
- the
- failings
- of
- revered
- figures
- come
- to
- light?
- Who
- is
- shamed
- when
- the
- truth
- is
- told?
- Michelle
- de
- Kretser’s
- new
- novel
- offers
- a
- spellbinding
- meditation
- on
- the
- moral
- complexities
- that
- arise
- in
- the
- gap
- between
- our
- values
- and
- our lives.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
