Running Dogs

Ruby J. Murray

'Lyrical descriptions clash with harsh imagery to evoke a world of extreme privilege set among that of poverty, fear and political upheaval, where privilege and wealth are not enough protection from familial secrets and shame. Running Dogs is a powerful and nuanced debut novel.' [Four Stars]

Australian Bookseller & Publisher

'Poetically sensuous and vividly evocative...This is a wonderfully nuanced first novel, conjuring up the visceral intensity of a crowded Asian country, where things are done differently, and European cultural sensibilities are of tenuous relevance. Highly recommended.'

Ian McFarlane, Canberra Times

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'[An] impressive debut novel … The prose, slick and economical, moves snappily throughout … Running Dogs is an enthralling and highly enjoyable novel that presents a convincing argument against ignorance and apathy.'

Australian Book Review

Jakarta, 1997, and the city is on the verge of a revolution.

Even the Jordan children — Petra, Isaak and Paul — can feel it coming, shaking the edges of their privileged, protected expat world.

Years later, Diana, an Australian development worker, moves to Jakarta and becomes entwined in the powerful Jordans’ adult lives. As the monsoon descends, and the Jordans begin to fall apart, Diana sinks into the half-light of their past, where rumour and religion define the contours of the real, and the rules of the game change according to who is playing.

Set in a global city of poverty, beauty, corruption and extreme wealth, Running Dogs is a novel about power and responsibility; about the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive, and the damage they can do.

Australian Bookseller & Publisher

Ian McFarlane, Canberra Times

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 210mm × 135mm

Extent:288pp

ISBN (13):9781921844706

RRP:$29.99

Pub date:26 Apr 2012

Rights Held: ANZ

High-res cover:Download Image

BOOK CLUB NOTES:Download PDF

AWARDS

2013 Davitt Award - Long-listed 2013 The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist - 2013 UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards - Short-listed

CATEGORIES / tags

Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945) FICTION / General

AUTHOR

Ruby J. Murray

Ruby J. Murray was born in Melbourne. She was educated at Princes Hill Secondary College, the University of Melbourne, La Sorbonne, the Australian National University, and in Jakarta’s 40,000 taxis. She has a background in environmental politics and writes regularly for Australian magazines, newspapers, journals and anthologies. Running Dogs is her first novel.

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Ruby J. Murray

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