Man Bites Dog

by Adam Ford

When Satan, a territorial Doberman pinscher, winds up dead, Steven, a young mailman, turns amateur detective in order to clear his name in this comic mystery novel. Coping with 20-something, post-college angst, he fumbles his way through his first love and his first career with the help of his Murder She Wrote–addicted best friend, Gina. The book also features original comic strip art by the author interspersed throughout the text.

Genres: Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

Reviews

[Q · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was both thoroughly enjoyable and somewhat disappointing.

Backstory: I discovered Adam Ford when I was about fourteen. He wrote these short and sweet free verse poems that I loved (see Not Quite the Man for the Job). He also makes zines and comics and edits Going Down Swinging and generally does a lot of stuff to support the local grassroots lit community. I loved that, too; loved that he used to live with Alicia Sometimes (another stalwart of the Melbourne poetry scene, she hosts the spoken word show on RRR among other things), loved that they wrote poems about each other and Fitzroy and trams. About my world, or the world I wanted to be part of and I think sort of did, for a while at least. I loved that though they seemed to be professional writers they were kind of fannish, except for the fandom of Melbourne. But I always had a sneaking suspicion that the fandom factor played a bit part in my love for such writing -- my bias towards their subject matter tilted my judgement to exaggerated favour.

And that's one of my main problems with this book. The protagonist, Steven, has just finished a BA (at Melbourne Uni) and becomes a postie (around North Fitzroy). His friends make zines (which they sell at Polyester and Sticky) and have picnics (at Collingwood Children's Farm) and go for bike rides (along Merri Creek). They even have dinner at the Moroccan Soup Bar. It's all very familiar. And, of course, that's not Ford's fault -- it's his city too and it makes perfect sense that he should write about it. But it makes me a little suspicious, as though my affection is being bought too easily.

The main plot, a farcical mystery about a dead dog, is really quite funny, though at times I (like the protagonist) forgot about it entirely. The subplot about Steven working out his life (or perhaps that's really the main plot) is fine, and readily believable, if somewhat predictable. But it feels like perhaps it's drawn too closely from life (well, inner-city mid-20s hipster life). All the characters are likeable, and the story is sweet and funny, and stylistically it's very natural, but it just doesn't seem all that inventive. Easy to like, sure. But maybe just because it's colloquial, not only in language but idea. I wanted something more daring.

There's a suggestion that Ford is aware of this, though. In one scene, Steven is at a picnic where Emma's friends are dismissing The Secret Life of Us as just another soap, but one that tries to lure them in with all the paraphernalia of their demographic. For me this scene makes me go "Oh, okay, I get what you're doing".

Hipsters always dig the meta.

[Jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good laugh, nothing serious, just a fun everyday kind of book. Likeable characters who may seem to be copies of your friends, situations that are believable and some relationship issues. Fun chuck away story.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up needing something to read while having a not-very-well night in bed - and it was a nice run down memory lane to the mid noughties when everyone I knew sat around drinking beer on couches in pubs listening to poetry and had their own zines.
Lots of zines.
Wonder what happened to zines?

Anyhoo, this is part of the oeuvre of Australian books I've always had a sweet spot for - the 20 something guy not really sure of his life direction with a ho-hum job, much cooler friend and whimsical chicks who has some awkward and absurd suburban adventures (see: Nick Earls, Stefan Laszczuk, Markus Zusak's 'The Messenger')

There's more Melbourne references than a Paul Kelly playlist and it certainly tickled my nostalgia bones, but I'm not sure how well the book has aged, even in the last ten years - the scene of sitting around in the middle of the day having a picnic with a bunch of friends and talking about how "The Secret Life of Us" isn't an accurate depiction of the kind of young people who sit around in the middle of the day having a picnic with a bunch of friends kind of woke me up to how much time has passed.

But this book was like a zine - which I'd always thought were a dashed off, small scale equivalent of just photocopying your own diary for public adoration - the inclusion of "Steven's" comics added to this.

And there's a lot of writers who moved on from zines into longer form writing, and I'd certainly be interested to find out what Adam Ford has done since. And to find up my "Secret Life of Us" soundtrack CD.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was totally ridiculous and totally fun. It is kind of a coming of age story but not really. Steven is a not-exactly focused young 22 year old mailman in Australia who writes a comic about kid versions of a few Hindu gods for his BF zine and maybe to self publish his own little book, hangs out at open mike nights for Poets at bars, goes around town with his best friend giving out grammar warnings to businesses with poorly worded signs and has a bit of a romance going with a slightly older woman and solves the mystery of the death of Satan aka Gavin, a dog that threatened him daily on his mail route. Light, short, quirky and fun...

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable comic tale about a postie falsely accused of the death of his nemesis, Satan the Doberman, commencing a Murder, She Wrote inspired investigation with his best friend, and getting his life together in the process.

While it won't teach you anything meaningful about life or change the way you think about something, and there's never any danger of it taking wholly unexpected turns, it's charmingly told and Steve (the postie) and his friends are pleasant and funny company. An excellent book for travelling and appointments - engaging, entertaining and untaxing.

[Gareth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up as a random book that caught my eye in the library and seemed interesting enough. Was a fun read, but was over almost as soon as i started it, the characters seem very real and I enjoyed the quirkiness of their interactions and quests. Not entirely unsatisfying but not a book i will probably remember after a few weeks..

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing read. I especially liked the grammar manifesto, something which I may have to try. The protagonist is a whiny little boy in the beginning, but that's the point. A coming of age novel, for twenty-somethings.

[Eric Dando · Rating 4 out of 5]

a cool book that made me smile. very melbourne heavy. i love that it has cartoons in it. i bought it from the opshop in hurstbridge for $2. i was really inspired by this book.

[Liam Jennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best Australian books I've read.