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'For nearly five years I have wanted to write something about the surrealist painter Emil Bafdescu: about his paintings, one of which hangs in a little restaurant in Melbourne, and about his disappearance, which is still a mystery. But this is probably not going to be the book I imagined. Nothing has quite worked out the way I planned.'With the small inheritance he received upon his father's death, Miles has come to Europe on the trail of the Romanian surrealist, who disappeared into a forest in 1967. But in trying to unravel the mystery of Bafdescu's secret life, Miles must also reckon with his own.Faced with a language and a landscape that remain stubbornly out of reach, and condemned to wait for someone who may never arrive, Miles is haunted by thoughts of his ex-girlfriend, Alice, and the trip they took to Venice that ended their relationship.Uncanny, occasionally absurd, and utterly original, Fever of Animals is a beautifully written meditation on art and grief.… (more)
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I started enjoying this book as a searingly frank autobiography, until, about 75% through, I found the the Romanian surrealist artist at the centre of the book was fictional - making me realise that what was fictional versus real was way more ambiguous than I
This is a very good book, with compelling story telling, artfully disguised as high literature. I also think it might be more a book for male readers, with depictions of relations being, not macho, but perceived from a male perspective.
Well worth reading.