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Fever of Animals
'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.
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.
259 pages, Paperback
First published August 26, 2015
15 people are currently reading
359 people want to read
About the author
Miles Allinson
3 books19 followersMILES ALLINSON is a writer and an artist. He was born in Melbourne in 1981, and has a Bachelor of Creative Arts and a Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Writing from the University of Melbourne, as well as a Masters of Fine Arts (Art in Public Space) from RMIT.
Fever of Animals is his first novel, and won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2014.
Fever of Animals is his first novel, and won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
May 15, 2022
A ‘failed artist’, Miles, settles temporarily in a small town in Germany, ostensibly to write a book about a forgotten surrealist painter named Emil Bafdescu. He gets little work done, though: instead he thinks/writes about the death of his father, his complicated feelings about his ex-girlfriend, and something that happened on a holiday in Venice that marked the beginning of the end of their relationship. The resulting novel is strongly reminiscent of Ben Lerner’s Leaving the Atocha Station, and its detached, dreamy style also reminded me of Sarah Bernstein’s The Coming Bad Days. I found the narrative’s treatment of Alice, the ex-girlfriend, somewhat troubling – perhaps even more troubling when you consider that, minus the fictional artist, this seems to be autofiction. But perhaps that was the author’s intention after all, perhaps it’s a deliberate part of the book’s meta tangle. Regardless, I think it’d have been stronger if Alice was something more than a pawn to be moved in and out of the story as and when she proved useful to the protagonist. If you can ignore that, almost everything else about Fever of Animals is excellent. I particularly loved reading about the invented life of Bafdescu, and found there to be something consistently hypnotic about the entire narrative despite the fact that it frequently switches focus/perspective.
TinyLetter | Linktree
TinyLetter | Linktree
unfinished-or-abandoned
July 20, 2024I was initially attracted by the story of the Romanian artist - of art, artists, Romania - but alot of this was fictional and unsatisfying.
I made it three quarters of the way thru before giving up on this novel. the main character's sense of entitlement, arrogance and petulance just turned me off too much eventually. it was always there on some level, but seemed forgivable/tolerable initially, balanced against the novels potential and promise, and some of what it seemed to be trying to articulate.
I should maybe have checked sooner to see if the artist - Emile Bafdescu - the character is researching and writing about actually lived. (the f within his name seemed a little incongruous). it seems he didn't, which is disappointing. but even with a potentially fictional artist this could have been more interesting and enjoyable.
this novel is kinda the opposite of Shola von Reinhold's 'Lote', wrt what it contributes - it takes rather than gives, especially to the social history surrounding an artist/artists and art.
I think I spent the first half of the novel waiting for Miles to get properly into tracking down what he can about Emile Bafdescu, and finally visiting Romania... which kept me interested and putting aside my grumbles... and then what is revealed of the character (author?) when he does is just too much for me.
he talks about Romania in such a stereotypical way from an outsider perspective, falling into fairly tired cliches. I'd have liked a more original and balanced perspective. it was also abit unclear from the descriptions/commentary exactly when he was supposed to be there. it read abit like a 'rough guide' travel book, tho less balanced even than that. he also makes constant complaints about the Romanian language, how little he understands, how unintelligible it is... occasionally references the possibility he should maybe try to learn Romanian, or another language, to have meaningful conversations with people, and understand source material for the piece he's supposedly researching... but ultimately he can't be bothered. and he's petulant, in a fairly arrogant way, about the conversation he has with the local art historian he meets in Romania, cos she knows what she's talking about and he doesn't 🙄😬 lets her put in work around something he's pretty sure he's not going to follow up on, and takes up her sparse time. I think this is where I got totally fucked off with him - him taking her efforts for granted, and expecting the assistance she extends to him, without thinking of the cost to her 🙄😬 there was a really odd line/phrase he includes here too, when assessing her attractiveness, that seemed very out of place, and pretty creepy. I think for me this was also the last straw wrt his constant commenting on the attractiveness (or not) of any woman he meets.
Miles just comes off as/has the vibe of an entitled young ish (but should know better by now), cis hetero, nondisabled, middle class, white man. this is the case from pretty early on in the novel.
maybe it's supposed to be a book about a young man being an entitled jerk? maybe it's supposed to be critiquing privileged guys being entitled jerks? maybe the author is exposing a former self and will go on to redeem himself at the end somehow? but I've lost interest to find out.
a couple of things I thought were OK:
🌟 there's alot about mental illness, relationships, grief... and it all kinda ties in quite well. eg it sounds at one point like the artist Emile Bafdescu had some mental health stuff going on, kinda parallel to Alice/her mum (Alice is Miles's ex-girlfriend), and like there's a potential Miles is maybe trying to understand them both, and himself (following his father's death).
🌟 parts of the story are repeated and retold in places, and kinda out of order... which i found abit confusing and jarring at times, but I could also position and perhaps appreciate it as abit like someone going over events from memory... repeating thoughts about certain times and situations they're trying to better place /understand /resolve...
hmm, I feel like I'm trying to find positives here/maybe giving it too much 'benefit of doubt'
🌧🙃🌧
accessed as a library audiobook, nicely enough read by Tom Hoskins. tho I don't know if some of the Romanian words are deliberately pronounced incorrectly, or if it's just uneven. like, are some of the words deliberately incorrect cos its Miles narrating himself, rather than narrating the story? 🤔🙃 but this was something that stood out abit for me, and affected my reception of it too.
I made it three quarters of the way thru before giving up on this novel. the main character's sense of entitlement, arrogance and petulance just turned me off too much eventually. it was always there on some level, but seemed forgivable/tolerable initially, balanced against the novels potential and promise, and some of what it seemed to be trying to articulate.
I should maybe have checked sooner to see if the artist - Emile Bafdescu - the character is researching and writing about actually lived. (the f within his name seemed a little incongruous). it seems he didn't, which is disappointing. but even with a potentially fictional artist this could have been more interesting and enjoyable.
this novel is kinda the opposite of Shola von Reinhold's 'Lote', wrt what it contributes - it takes rather than gives, especially to the social history surrounding an artist/artists and art.
I think I spent the first half of the novel waiting for Miles to get properly into tracking down what he can about Emile Bafdescu, and finally visiting Romania... which kept me interested and putting aside my grumbles... and then what is revealed of the character (author?) when he does is just too much for me.
he talks about Romania in such a stereotypical way from an outsider perspective, falling into fairly tired cliches. I'd have liked a more original and balanced perspective. it was also abit unclear from the descriptions/commentary exactly when he was supposed to be there. it read abit like a 'rough guide' travel book, tho less balanced even than that. he also makes constant complaints about the Romanian language, how little he understands, how unintelligible it is... occasionally references the possibility he should maybe try to learn Romanian, or another language, to have meaningful conversations with people, and understand source material for the piece he's supposedly researching... but ultimately he can't be bothered. and he's petulant, in a fairly arrogant way, about the conversation he has with the local art historian he meets in Romania, cos she knows what she's talking about and he doesn't 🙄😬 lets her put in work around something he's pretty sure he's not going to follow up on, and takes up her sparse time. I think this is where I got totally fucked off with him - him taking her efforts for granted, and expecting the assistance she extends to him, without thinking of the cost to her 🙄😬 there was a really odd line/phrase he includes here too, when assessing her attractiveness, that seemed very out of place, and pretty creepy. I think for me this was also the last straw wrt his constant commenting on the attractiveness (or not) of any woman he meets.
Miles just comes off as/has the vibe of an entitled young ish (but should know better by now), cis hetero, nondisabled, middle class, white man. this is the case from pretty early on in the novel.
maybe it's supposed to be a book about a young man being an entitled jerk? maybe it's supposed to be critiquing privileged guys being entitled jerks? maybe the author is exposing a former self and will go on to redeem himself at the end somehow? but I've lost interest to find out.
a couple of things I thought were OK:
🌟 there's alot about mental illness, relationships, grief... and it all kinda ties in quite well. eg it sounds at one point like the artist Emile Bafdescu had some mental health stuff going on, kinda parallel to Alice/her mum (Alice is Miles's ex-girlfriend), and like there's a potential Miles is maybe trying to understand them both, and himself (following his father's death).
🌟 parts of the story are repeated and retold in places, and kinda out of order... which i found abit confusing and jarring at times, but I could also position and perhaps appreciate it as abit like someone going over events from memory... repeating thoughts about certain times and situations they're trying to better place /understand /resolve...
hmm, I feel like I'm trying to find positives here/maybe giving it too much 'benefit of doubt'
🌧🙃🌧
accessed as a library audiobook, nicely enough read by Tom Hoskins. tho I don't know if some of the Romanian words are deliberately pronounced incorrectly, or if it's just uneven. like, are some of the words deliberately incorrect cos its Miles narrating himself, rather than narrating the story? 🤔🙃 but this was something that stood out abit for me, and affected my reception of it too.
October 26, 2015
I started this and thought, "Oh great, another novel/memoir about a disaffected creative dude in his late 20s/early 30s," but Allinson's writing quickly won me over. The book bleeds between time periods and locations, and you find yourself immersed in the mind of this self-absorbed, lonely, dreamer as he flips through memories and ponders where his life is going. It all sounds very self-indulgent, and it sails pretty close to the line at times, but Allinson is a really wonderful prose stylist and is refreshingly tough on his alter-ego/main character, so in the end I went along with it. In many ways it seemed like a more serious version of Lion Attack! - you'll laugh much less often, but the literary ambition is cranked up to 11.
I was a bit disappointed by the lack of depth to the Alice character (the narrator's ex-girlfriend), but decided in the end that this reflected the perspective of our narrator and was intentional.
I was a bit disappointed by the lack of depth to the Alice character (the narrator's ex-girlfriend), but decided in the end that this reflected the perspective of our narrator and was intentional.
March 4, 2016
The bookstore that I work at has only sold one copy of this book - to me. I found it hard to get into, and it's sat on my bedside drawers for months. Please not another story about a 20-something guy struggling to come to terms with his existence. Life is so hard when you're a white man.
And yet. Yet. It is beautifully written. Emily Bitto - author of The Strays, a recent book based loosely on the 1940s modernist movement in Melbourne, (a book that I really liked) - calls it a 'painterly work'. Fever of Animals is painterly, clever and darkly funny, if a little self-obsessed.
Our protagonist, Miles, a failed painter coming to terms with his father's death and relationship break down with Alice, goes on a quest to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Romanian surrealist painter Emil Bafdescu. At times, the quest is more about Alice (the first of many too-thin girls he chases only to push them away), sometimes about death and oftentimes about art and existence. It's in this layering of stories and thoughts and moments that the true meaning of the novel comes about. The structure - at times - seems to mimic surrealist devices, particularly when Miles is in Romania, and would translate well to an art film, looping between dream states and non-narrative montages, then back to reality (in inverted commas).
Despite not wanting to enjoy this book, I know it affected me because part way through I found myself Googling Emil Bafdescu, the artist whom fictional Miles is obsessed with. I laughed when I discovered that Bafdescu is an entirely fictional character, so convinced was I that he was a real artist. I was not convinced that this was entirely a work of fiction - the author and his main character both being named Miles - and yet perhaps here lies its cleverness.
Like any existential quest, I don't know that any of us are closer to holding some knowable, absolute truth about life or death. But the novel reaches a very fine conclusion in a bar in Berlin. And I really, really enjoyed reading it.
So Miles Allinson, I'll let you win this time. But if I see you in a bar I'm going to challenge you to an arm wrestle. See how you fare against a not-thin girl.
And yet. Yet. It is beautifully written. Emily Bitto - author of The Strays, a recent book based loosely on the 1940s modernist movement in Melbourne, (a book that I really liked) - calls it a 'painterly work'. Fever of Animals is painterly, clever and darkly funny, if a little self-obsessed.
Our protagonist, Miles, a failed painter coming to terms with his father's death and relationship break down with Alice, goes on a quest to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Romanian surrealist painter Emil Bafdescu. At times, the quest is more about Alice (the first of many too-thin girls he chases only to push them away), sometimes about death and oftentimes about art and existence. It's in this layering of stories and thoughts and moments that the true meaning of the novel comes about. The structure - at times - seems to mimic surrealist devices, particularly when Miles is in Romania, and would translate well to an art film, looping between dream states and non-narrative montages, then back to reality (in inverted commas).
Despite not wanting to enjoy this book, I know it affected me because part way through I found myself Googling Emil Bafdescu, the artist whom fictional Miles is obsessed with. I laughed when I discovered that Bafdescu is an entirely fictional character, so convinced was I that he was a real artist. I was not convinced that this was entirely a work of fiction - the author and his main character both being named Miles - and yet perhaps here lies its cleverness.
Like any existential quest, I don't know that any of us are closer to holding some knowable, absolute truth about life or death. But the novel reaches a very fine conclusion in a bar in Berlin. And I really, really enjoyed reading it.
So Miles Allinson, I'll let you win this time. But if I see you in a bar I'm going to challenge you to an arm wrestle. See how you fare against a not-thin girl.
October 1, 2015
I NOPE'd out when a waitress was rude to him and it "only made him want her more"
September 28, 2015
Fever of Animals is a difficult book to categorise, but boy is it addictive reading! I would sit down and intend to read for 20 minutes and find myself still reading an hour later. It’s a book that has you asking questions and reflecting on your life and the world the whole way through.
I’m going to try to explain a little about the book, but it’s difficult as it goes off on different tangents – trust me though, the whole thing just works. As the reader, I wasn’t sure at times what was true (is there really a painter called Emil Bafdescu? Am I just an uncultured idiot?) and what was fiction. (I did Google Emil but couldn’t find anything – is he so underground that I am just too uncool to find him in the mainstream?) I think this is made more complex as the story is told from the first person point of view of Miles. But is it Miles the author? Or another Miles? Or a combination of the two? Anyway, the story begins as Miles is on a plane. He’s there to bury his father. He starts to reflect on a number of different things in a stream of consciousness – the death of a person who was the last one to speak that language, his failed relationship with Alice and how the surrealist painter Emil Bafdescu disappeared many years ago. After he returns home, Miles reflects on family, Melbourne and life in general. The story with Alice is told in glimpses from their meeting to the ending of their relationship. And in the background is Emil. Is it a co-incidence that Emil is a surrealist painter in this story which feels like it is slightly surreal, drifting in the breeze itself?
You may think from my description that Fever of Animals is difficult to follow. It’s not at all. It’s delightful to get caught up in Miles’ beautiful prose. It’s lyrical and beautiful yet sometimes contains such profound truths that you wonder why you haven’t thought of it before. Miles’ thoughts on grief and relationships and how they link back to Emil and that glimpse of his one painting in Melbourne are well crafted. It’s also amazingly interesting – I never thought that I would care about the searching of a particular painter. Miles the character makes it all seem worthwhile, almost a noble cause even though he freely admits he has no idea where he’s going with this! In particular, I loved Miles’ reflections on his time with Alice. They’re brutally honest and don’t always paint him in the best light but the end of their relationship is spellbinding to read, even if it’s not always comfortable.
Fever of Animals is beautiful, an almost mystical debut. Miles Allinson is clearly an author to watch for!
Thank you to Scribe Publications for this copy. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
I’m going to try to explain a little about the book, but it’s difficult as it goes off on different tangents – trust me though, the whole thing just works. As the reader, I wasn’t sure at times what was true (is there really a painter called Emil Bafdescu? Am I just an uncultured idiot?) and what was fiction. (I did Google Emil but couldn’t find anything – is he so underground that I am just too uncool to find him in the mainstream?) I think this is made more complex as the story is told from the first person point of view of Miles. But is it Miles the author? Or another Miles? Or a combination of the two? Anyway, the story begins as Miles is on a plane. He’s there to bury his father. He starts to reflect on a number of different things in a stream of consciousness – the death of a person who was the last one to speak that language, his failed relationship with Alice and how the surrealist painter Emil Bafdescu disappeared many years ago. After he returns home, Miles reflects on family, Melbourne and life in general. The story with Alice is told in glimpses from their meeting to the ending of their relationship. And in the background is Emil. Is it a co-incidence that Emil is a surrealist painter in this story which feels like it is slightly surreal, drifting in the breeze itself?
You may think from my description that Fever of Animals is difficult to follow. It’s not at all. It’s delightful to get caught up in Miles’ beautiful prose. It’s lyrical and beautiful yet sometimes contains such profound truths that you wonder why you haven’t thought of it before. Miles’ thoughts on grief and relationships and how they link back to Emil and that glimpse of his one painting in Melbourne are well crafted. It’s also amazingly interesting – I never thought that I would care about the searching of a particular painter. Miles the character makes it all seem worthwhile, almost a noble cause even though he freely admits he has no idea where he’s going with this! In particular, I loved Miles’ reflections on his time with Alice. They’re brutally honest and don’t always paint him in the best light but the end of their relationship is spellbinding to read, even if it’s not always comfortable.
Fever of Animals is beautiful, an almost mystical debut. Miles Allinson is clearly an author to watch for!
Thank you to Scribe Publications for this copy. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Read
June 8, 2018It’s thrilling to read writing like this. Panels of visual perfection strung throughout give sustained lapidary brilliance … There’s a lot of learned conversation about art and art history … [and] some tender and anguished inquiries about whom we love and why … Underneath all of this is the eternal question about how to be authentically yourself in the world … [A]n extravagantly good novel. Not only does it have assurance and authority, it is made with that remarkable magical force of authenticity.
Helen Elliott, Saturday Age
A “voice-driven” narrative par excellence, at the heart of which is a sensually evoked life … Allinson's distinctive, slyly amusing voice takes us on a dizzying journey through memory, grief, and what it means to be an artist with integrity.
Jude Cook, Literary Review
[An] exceptional first novel … full of art and ideas, and yet so intimate that it feels like a conversation with a dear, intelligent friend … masterful in its treatment of time and memory, and filled with such clarifying moments of observation and insight that it is heartbreaking to reach the final page. This is an exquisite, painterly novel, and Allinson is a writer destined for a cult following.
Emily Bitto, Stella Prize-Winning Author of The Strays
As this fever-dream of a novel veers between the quotidian and the nightmarish, it asks vital and difficult questions about the role of art, politics, madness, identity and intimacy … [a] deeply impressive debut.
Veronica Sullivan, Books+Publishing, Five Stars
[A] cerebral novel, passionately invested in the intellectual and cultural value of artistic production … From Balaclava and St Kilda to London, Berlin, Venice and Bucharest, Allinson’s novel ranges far and wide, anchored by the all-encompassing interiority of its unsettled protagonist’s first person narrative … Disparate timeframes, geographically distant locations and even different textual modes are seamlessly woven together, inviting the reader to reflect on the different ways a novel can take form — and indeed, the different forms a novel can take … [Fever of Animals] moves effortlessly between the streets of Fitzroy or London and a world of haunted Romanian forests and fevered dreams.
Sophia Barnes, Sydney Review of Books
Allinson is unashamedly a serious writer, in the mould of dark luminaries like Roberto Bolaño, Thomas Bernhard, Robert Walser, and perhaps W.G. Sebald … Fever of Animals takes itself seriously, like good art should do … and it takes you seriously. All it asks is that you take it seriously back, and to do so is pleasurable and challenging and nourishingly sad.
Sam Cooney, Readings Monthly
Heartfelt, darkly comic, and nothing short of extraordinary. Allinson’s novel is a rarity — fearless, finely judged and alive with mystery.
Andrew Croome, Author of Midnight Express and Document Z
[Allinson] has a distinctive and rare authorial voice, one that is alive with wit, intelligence, and energy … An outstanding new talent.
Toni Jordan
This is the book on everyone's lips right now … Offbeat and superbly written.
Tessa Connelly, Canberra Weekly
Weird, audacious, paradoxical and strange … Fever of Animals consistently invites us to question its claims to authenticity: what exactly is the difference between great fiction and a tremendously compelling lie, a hoax? … [A] fruitful collaboration of the critic and the fiction writer … full of bizarre, uncalculatedly stunning moments … somewhere at the intersection of lying and lyric.
Joshua Barnes, The Newtown Review of Books
The play between truth and fiction, between the writing self and the self written, is one of the great pleasures of Fever of Animals … audacious, clever, and original.
Catriona Menzies-Pike, Australian Book Review
[A] moody, multilayered character study … from an author who is also an artist … Each moment of personal revelation is buttressed by beautifully crafted descriptions of art. Two pages are spent lovingly viewing a Caravaggio in a hot, hostile Naples, while Miles remains oblivious to his disintegrating world … At its best, Fever is a Nabokovian portrait of the artist as a broken man.
The Saturday Paper
Allinson’s novel has a dreamlike quality … Random memories float to the surface at unexpected moments. The narrator’s perspective seems hazy, clouded as it is by grief, longing and a gnawing personal disappointment … [The book] demonstrates a devastating knack for conveying the nuances of bereavement … [E]rudite and intriguing.
Weekend Australian
Despite the studied diffidence of much of its prose, this is a tightly wound and self-referential novel … abundant with references to literature and fine art … Allinson is especially good at the space that solitude allows for the hollow accounting of self-perception.
James Tierney, Kill Your Darlings
A fresh, innovative tale … Conundrums abound as the ambiguity of the author-like protagonist and his heartbreak intersects with the surrealist’s obscurity and unsolved disappearance.
Sunday Star Times
Allinson’s distinctive, slyly amusing voice takes us on a dizzying journey through memory, grief and what it means to be an artist with integrity.
Jude Cook, Literary Review
Helen Elliott, Saturday Age
A “voice-driven” narrative par excellence, at the heart of which is a sensually evoked life … Allinson's distinctive, slyly amusing voice takes us on a dizzying journey through memory, grief, and what it means to be an artist with integrity.
Jude Cook, Literary Review
[An] exceptional first novel … full of art and ideas, and yet so intimate that it feels like a conversation with a dear, intelligent friend … masterful in its treatment of time and memory, and filled with such clarifying moments of observation and insight that it is heartbreaking to reach the final page. This is an exquisite, painterly novel, and Allinson is a writer destined for a cult following.
Emily Bitto, Stella Prize-Winning Author of The Strays
As this fever-dream of a novel veers between the quotidian and the nightmarish, it asks vital and difficult questions about the role of art, politics, madness, identity and intimacy … [a] deeply impressive debut.
Veronica Sullivan, Books+Publishing, Five Stars
[A] cerebral novel, passionately invested in the intellectual and cultural value of artistic production … From Balaclava and St Kilda to London, Berlin, Venice and Bucharest, Allinson’s novel ranges far and wide, anchored by the all-encompassing interiority of its unsettled protagonist’s first person narrative … Disparate timeframes, geographically distant locations and even different textual modes are seamlessly woven together, inviting the reader to reflect on the different ways a novel can take form — and indeed, the different forms a novel can take … [Fever of Animals] moves effortlessly between the streets of Fitzroy or London and a world of haunted Romanian forests and fevered dreams.
Sophia Barnes, Sydney Review of Books
Allinson is unashamedly a serious writer, in the mould of dark luminaries like Roberto Bolaño, Thomas Bernhard, Robert Walser, and perhaps W.G. Sebald … Fever of Animals takes itself seriously, like good art should do … and it takes you seriously. All it asks is that you take it seriously back, and to do so is pleasurable and challenging and nourishingly sad.
Sam Cooney, Readings Monthly
Heartfelt, darkly comic, and nothing short of extraordinary. Allinson’s novel is a rarity — fearless, finely judged and alive with mystery.
Andrew Croome, Author of Midnight Express and Document Z
[Allinson] has a distinctive and rare authorial voice, one that is alive with wit, intelligence, and energy … An outstanding new talent.
Toni Jordan
This is the book on everyone's lips right now … Offbeat and superbly written.
Tessa Connelly, Canberra Weekly
Weird, audacious, paradoxical and strange … Fever of Animals consistently invites us to question its claims to authenticity: what exactly is the difference between great fiction and a tremendously compelling lie, a hoax? … [A] fruitful collaboration of the critic and the fiction writer … full of bizarre, uncalculatedly stunning moments … somewhere at the intersection of lying and lyric.
Joshua Barnes, The Newtown Review of Books
The play between truth and fiction, between the writing self and the self written, is one of the great pleasures of Fever of Animals … audacious, clever, and original.
Catriona Menzies-Pike, Australian Book Review
[A] moody, multilayered character study … from an author who is also an artist … Each moment of personal revelation is buttressed by beautifully crafted descriptions of art. Two pages are spent lovingly viewing a Caravaggio in a hot, hostile Naples, while Miles remains oblivious to his disintegrating world … At its best, Fever is a Nabokovian portrait of the artist as a broken man.
The Saturday Paper
Allinson’s novel has a dreamlike quality … Random memories float to the surface at unexpected moments. The narrator’s perspective seems hazy, clouded as it is by grief, longing and a gnawing personal disappointment … [The book] demonstrates a devastating knack for conveying the nuances of bereavement … [E]rudite and intriguing.
Weekend Australian
Despite the studied diffidence of much of its prose, this is a tightly wound and self-referential novel … abundant with references to literature and fine art … Allinson is especially good at the space that solitude allows for the hollow accounting of self-perception.
James Tierney, Kill Your Darlings
A fresh, innovative tale … Conundrums abound as the ambiguity of the author-like protagonist and his heartbreak intersects with the surrealist’s obscurity and unsolved disappearance.
Sunday Star Times
Allinson’s distinctive, slyly amusing voice takes us on a dizzying journey through memory, grief and what it means to be an artist with integrity.
Jude Cook, Literary Review
Read
October 18, 2015The return that never arrives. My review of Fever of Animals http://www.killyourdarlingsjournal.co...
March 15, 2024
Mid honestly. Or maybe I just didn’t understand the point of the book
October 4, 2016
Initially, I began reading this book with 0 expectations, and assumed it was some sort of intermediate read before I crack into a classic. Oh how I was wrong, terribly, terribly wrong.
This book manages to capture the essence of the claustrophobic grasp that Melbourne has on its inhabitants, for despite its superficial charm, and even despite its deep, you-have-to-live-there-to-know-it sense of comfort that it tends to provide, sometimes, Melbourne living can become quite burdening. So I felt somewhat disturbed reading Fever of Animals, as if I was reading a document about how my life has progressed thus far, with futile attempts at accomplishing the desires I uphold. I guess you can somewhat feel sympathy towards Miles, for while he may appear arrogant, and heck yeah his demeanour may be characteristic of a conceited person only in pursuit of his own selfish motives, it is sort of understandable. His sense of worthlessness and his recurring direction of thought towards mortality and how one can become so consumed with their ideas of what constitutes self - for Miles he sees surrealism as being the galvanising and extinguishing factor to the artists' lives that he has sought interest in - is alarmingly... real. And to that I give a worthy 5*, particularly through Miles' (the author, that is) ability to instil within me a sense of wanderlust, and a desire to pursue the very path Mile (the character) takes, but without the nagging self-loathing and smoking... but keep the beers.
This book manages to capture the essence of the claustrophobic grasp that Melbourne has on its inhabitants, for despite its superficial charm, and even despite its deep, you-have-to-live-there-to-know-it sense of comfort that it tends to provide, sometimes, Melbourne living can become quite burdening. So I felt somewhat disturbed reading Fever of Animals, as if I was reading a document about how my life has progressed thus far, with futile attempts at accomplishing the desires I uphold. I guess you can somewhat feel sympathy towards Miles, for while he may appear arrogant, and heck yeah his demeanour may be characteristic of a conceited person only in pursuit of his own selfish motives, it is sort of understandable. His sense of worthlessness and his recurring direction of thought towards mortality and how one can become so consumed with their ideas of what constitutes self - for Miles he sees surrealism as being the galvanising and extinguishing factor to the artists' lives that he has sought interest in - is alarmingly... real. And to that I give a worthy 5*, particularly through Miles' (the author, that is) ability to instil within me a sense of wanderlust, and a desire to pursue the very path Mile (the character) takes, but without the nagging self-loathing and smoking... but keep the beers.
August 11, 2017
I couldn't quite give this three stars, because I really struggled through this one. However, I think that might have a little more to do with me, than any reflection of the book on an 'objective' level.
There were glimpses of greatness in this book, with really interesting narrative structure, and some quite beautiful language. The references to Emil Badescu, and Ceausescu, and the emergence of the surrealists was really engaging.
But I just couldn't get past the narrator. I felt that he experienced growth in the novel, but he is just a horrible person. So self-centered, self-deprecating, and so narrow minded. The main thing I'll take away from this novel is that I don't want to be like Miles. I want to think deeply and kindly about the people around me. I want to pursue my passions, even if I'm not saying anything grandiose. And I don't want to be the kind of person who, even in all their self-involvement, is so willing to dispose of their lives, wallowing in negativity, in a mystery you'll never solve, down paths that lead nowhere...
The book elicited a strong response in me in terms of what I've just written, but I really struggled to finish it. I just didn't want to hear any more from this guy, even if he is occasionally clever. Perhaps that's the point and what makes it a good book? But even so, I didn't really like it.
There were glimpses of greatness in this book, with really interesting narrative structure, and some quite beautiful language. The references to Emil Badescu, and Ceausescu, and the emergence of the surrealists was really engaging.
But I just couldn't get past the narrator. I felt that he experienced growth in the novel, but he is just a horrible person. So self-centered, self-deprecating, and so narrow minded. The main thing I'll take away from this novel is that I don't want to be like Miles. I want to think deeply and kindly about the people around me. I want to pursue my passions, even if I'm not saying anything grandiose. And I don't want to be the kind of person who, even in all their self-involvement, is so willing to dispose of their lives, wallowing in negativity, in a mystery you'll never solve, down paths that lead nowhere...
The book elicited a strong response in me in terms of what I've just written, but I really struggled to finish it. I just didn't want to hear any more from this guy, even if he is occasionally clever. Perhaps that's the point and what makes it a good book? But even so, I didn't really like it.
June 12, 2017
I liked this book, but, like I suspect the author wrote it, only in a kind-of existential way. Its the kind of book I would have found, like, really deep back when I was young, in my 20s in the 90s.
The author and main character, presumably the same, is a complete blowhard, but, again, he was really writing about being in his 20s and, presumably, an actual alcoholic, so it would be hard no to be. The plot is of no consequence, but as a study of loss and grief, and early adulthood and yearning, I think it works. Were I a woman I might be put off by how 'masculine' it is - how all the women in the book are essentially ornamental - but...I'm not a woman.
Oddly enough, the last book I read was Black Rock White City by AS Patric, like this book set in both Melbourne and Eastern Europe. That one I chose deliberately, but this one I just picked up at random at work, and it seems the two authors co-authored a third book at some point. Strange coincidence, and strangely in keeping with this work. Maybe I'll write a biography of them both just based on that coincidence?
The author and main character, presumably the same, is a complete blowhard, but, again, he was really writing about being in his 20s and, presumably, an actual alcoholic, so it would be hard no to be. The plot is of no consequence, but as a study of loss and grief, and early adulthood and yearning, I think it works. Were I a woman I might be put off by how 'masculine' it is - how all the women in the book are essentially ornamental - but...I'm not a woman.
Oddly enough, the last book I read was Black Rock White City by AS Patric, like this book set in both Melbourne and Eastern Europe. That one I chose deliberately, but this one I just picked up at random at work, and it seems the two authors co-authored a third book at some point. Strange coincidence, and strangely in keeping with this work. Maybe I'll write a biography of them both just based on that coincidence?
August 8, 2016
I started this audiobook without knowing what it was about. Throughout it I felt as if I was eavesdropping on the author's internalisation of his failed dreams and lamentation of his lost love which went on forever, with occasional insights into a surrealist artist's mysterious disappearance. The tone of the whole narrative was one of dreariness. The author did a good job of turning it into a publishable book that is currently shortlisted in a few state book awards.
This book could make a good distraction as a school text book as it might resonate with the youth of today. It will not appeal to the hoi polloi. It's one for the eggheads.
It flows quite smoothly but will most likely never be categorised as a classic in the same esteem that Proust and James Joyce are held.
This book could make a good distraction as a school text book as it might resonate with the youth of today. It will not appeal to the hoi polloi. It's one for the eggheads.
It flows quite smoothly but will most likely never be categorised as a classic in the same esteem that Proust and James Joyce are held.
February 21, 2017
The innate smart-arse in me wondered, as I read Fever of Animals, did a prize for best unpublished manuscript maybe mean a manuscript best left unpublished? By the time I finished the book, I'd almost concluded that was the case.
A failed artist becomes obsessed with an obscure Romanian surrealist after his father's death. While he seeks to find out more of the Romanian painter, he also reflects on the way he and his former partner broke up.
This is the kind of turgid angst that Australian writers tend to churn out when they are trying to be considered "serious" by their peers.
A failed artist becomes obsessed with an obscure Romanian surrealist after his father's death. While he seeks to find out more of the Romanian painter, he also reflects on the way he and his former partner broke up.
This is the kind of turgid angst that Australian writers tend to churn out when they are trying to be considered "serious" by their peers.
August 19, 2021
I mean dude, did you really love The Savage Detectives or what? (My recommendation is to read that instead or as well.)
The art parts, chasing the ghosts of the heroes of your artistic linage, hitting the limits of your own talent? The book made up of those parts is a four star.
The boring chauvinist on the quest? One star to a DNF. I am so, so sick of this guy and he's the same in so many books by so many authors. Please, dazzle me with how random things look like penises. It's fascinating, really.
The art parts, chasing the ghosts of the heroes of your artistic linage, hitting the limits of your own talent? The book made up of those parts is a four star.
The boring chauvinist on the quest? One star to a DNF. I am so, so sick of this guy and he's the same in so many books by so many authors. Please, dazzle me with how random things look like penises. It's fascinating, really.
September 23, 2019
The first chunk of the novel I was willing to go the distance. By the time I got to Part Two I was exhausted. As worn out and as delusional as the main character, Miles.
I kept at it, but I was at that point going through the motions of reading. I had already disengaged. By the end I didn't care if he ever found Alice or the surrealist painter he was looking for. Does that mean the book was a success? It seemed like it was the entire point of the book.
I kept at it, but I was at that point going through the motions of reading. I had already disengaged. By the end I didn't care if he ever found Alice or the surrealist painter he was looking for. Does that mean the book was a success? It seemed like it was the entire point of the book.
September 23, 2015
Gorgeous writing and interesting theories about the motivations of pursuing ideas and obsessions, but I was bored by the end. Tbh not really interested in narcissistic, vaguely self destructive characters. I look forward to Allinson's next work because he clearly has an eye for beauty, and Because I don't think Fever of Animals will be his best work.
April 16, 2021
I did not mean to read this a second time. I did not even realise I was reading it for a second time until I finished it and came on here to log it.
It was boring and felt forgettable while I was reading it. And I guess that was true of the first time I read it too. :/
It was boring and felt forgettable while I was reading it. And I guess that was true of the first time I read it too. :/
November 9, 2020
I bought Fever of Animals by Miles Allinson at Perth's Writers Festival in 2016. I watched him and a few others on a panel about introspective characters (so on-brand for me). After years sitting on the bookshelf, I finally picked it up to read.
Lead character Miles, who shares many of the same traits as real-life Miles (it’s a memoir/novel blur), travels to Europe with the hope of piecing together the life of surrealist painter, Emil Bafdescu, who strangely disappeared in a forest in 1967.
As Miles travels, he remembers the end of his last relationship and the death of his father 5 years ago. We go back to when he lived in London with his ex-girlfriend, his travels through South America and his return to Melbourne to see his dying father.
Fever of Animals is a subtle book— there’s no big epiphanies or grand narrative turns. Artistic inquiry is interspersed with the introspection of a grieving person who’s trying to make sense of his past – my cup of tea.
I suspect others may think Fever of Animals is self-indulgent but I enjoyed it. It’s clever in a way I can’t quite articulate yet. I’ll give you keywords instead: introspection, loss, regret, art, travel, inquiry. A nice slow read!
Lead character Miles, who shares many of the same traits as real-life Miles (it’s a memoir/novel blur), travels to Europe with the hope of piecing together the life of surrealist painter, Emil Bafdescu, who strangely disappeared in a forest in 1967.
As Miles travels, he remembers the end of his last relationship and the death of his father 5 years ago. We go back to when he lived in London with his ex-girlfriend, his travels through South America and his return to Melbourne to see his dying father.
Fever of Animals is a subtle book— there’s no big epiphanies or grand narrative turns. Artistic inquiry is interspersed with the introspection of a grieving person who’s trying to make sense of his past – my cup of tea.
I suspect others may think Fever of Animals is self-indulgent but I enjoyed it. It’s clever in a way I can’t quite articulate yet. I’ll give you keywords instead: introspection, loss, regret, art, travel, inquiry. A nice slow read!
March 10, 2019
I really relate to the main character in this novel. He sets out in a mission, but struggles to stick to it, struggles to find it important enough to not get distracted by other things going on in his life. He also can’t quite abandon it either. There are possibly three big things going on for this character, which are all important, and which inform each other and almost overlap. He is lost, trying to stick with a goal, a purpose, and not really succeeding, and feeling unworthy of his aspiration anyway. It’s so nice to know that other people are also like this, it’s not just me!
The writing is beautiful and reflective, and I found reading it put me in a reflective state about my own life, and helped me get into a deeper place with my own journaling during the time I was reading it.
It’s always lovely to read a book where the main character and author are from your home town too.
Highly recommend this book, and looking forward to what else Allinson writes.
The writing is beautiful and reflective, and I found reading it put me in a reflective state about my own life, and helped me get into a deeper place with my own journaling during the time I was reading it.
It’s always lovely to read a book where the main character and author are from your home town too.
Highly recommend this book, and looking forward to what else Allinson writes.
October 29, 2017
Some beautiful prose and insights into art, love, identity. The narrator is a both someone I could sympathise and relate to but also despised, especially because of his treatment of others and self-absorbed behaviour. He’s a distant, wounded and superior individual, stuck in a limbo due to his own self-fascination and quest to unlock an imagined mystery around an unappreciated surrealist artist. His attitude to woman is problematic. At times loving, it veers into abusive and reducing. No woman is described in this book without reference to whether he finds them attractive, and those who are pursued are often discarded as the character returns to his project of the self. I couldn’t tell if the author was doing this on purpose and wanted us to admire, disdain or feel affection for the lost and feckless protagonist.
Enjoyed the Melbourne setting.
Enjoyed the Melbourne setting.
July 22, 2018
I almost passed this book up because the cover photo led me to believe it could be about those odd people who re-enact battles, but having now read it, I can say it is 'about' a lot of things, battles not being one. The author takes us into his thinking about love, loss, art, life direction, travel. It is like a dialogue with a real person and of course I would love to know how much of it is true. If his beer drinking propensity is taken from life, I am glad I don't have his liver. In one sense it is a book about nothing, a failed relationship and a trip to Romania seeking to find out about a Surrealist painter who disappeared there. Though he turns this into a quest which we are glad to accompany him on, the journey is the story of this book, not the end result, aided by some beautiful writing. I happily await the next book.
June 29, 2021
This isn't a book I could recommend to a lot of people. The language is brilliant, the aesthetic is somber and perfectly fitting, but the story was a little all over the shop for me. It took me AGES to get through this because I was so stuck on the first half.
The second half of the book was enthralling and I honestly would have preferred more of the protagonists journey searching for information on Emil then the focus on what felt like a rather toxic relationship.
In saying that, I would read it again just for the language use which I really loved.
So it's a 3/5 for the first half and a 5/5 for the second half, leaving us a lovely 4/5!
The second half of the book was enthralling and I honestly would have preferred more of the protagonists journey searching for information on Emil then the focus on what felt like a rather toxic relationship.
In saying that, I would read it again just for the language use which I really loved.
So it's a 3/5 for the first half and a 5/5 for the second half, leaving us a lovely 4/5!
November 16, 2024
I listened to Fever of Animals as an audiobook.
I doubt I would have finished this book if I was reading it.
In fact I was originally going to give it 3 stars, then 2 stars and now I've finished it, it's at 1 stars, which means the 1st half was definitely better than the 2nd half.
There is no doubt that the author is very talented in the way he writes, unfortunately I just didn't understand or like his protagonist or the story.
I feel like me and the protagonist have just been on a very fruitless and pointless journey together.
I struggled with this book as I had no understanding of why Miles, the protagonist, was obsessed with the Emil Bafdescu, the artist, and for that reason I didn't really care whether he found out why the artist disappeared or not
Furthermore, Miles was incredibly selfish and self absorbed.
I think I switched off when he said to his girlfriend, 'I'm leaving you because I want to sleep with other women.'
This book is like a very long whinge-athon by a man who has no insight into the consequences of his own behaviour. I would like to send him for therapy, sit in on the therapy, then hear back from him to see if his internal monologue has changed. That would make a much more interesting book.
Or even a book with a character that challenges Miles's behaviour. Unfortunately, there is none of that, just a relentless ramble about how life is so difficult for him.
This book reminded me of Only Say the Word by Niall Williams (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...), which is another man whingeing after making bad life choices.
I just realised the author is called Miles and so is the protagonist of this book ... is this book autobiographical ... if so, I feel bad about my review now.
I doubt I would have finished this book if I was reading it.
In fact I was originally going to give it 3 stars, then 2 stars and now I've finished it, it's at 1 stars, which means the 1st half was definitely better than the 2nd half.
There is no doubt that the author is very talented in the way he writes, unfortunately I just didn't understand or like his protagonist or the story.
I feel like me and the protagonist have just been on a very fruitless and pointless journey together.
I struggled with this book as I had no understanding of why Miles, the protagonist, was obsessed with the Emil Bafdescu, the artist, and for that reason I didn't really care whether he found out why the artist disappeared or not
Furthermore, Miles was incredibly selfish and self absorbed.
I think I switched off when he said to his girlfriend, 'I'm leaving you because I want to sleep with other women.'
This book is like a very long whinge-athon by a man who has no insight into the consequences of his own behaviour. I would like to send him for therapy, sit in on the therapy, then hear back from him to see if his internal monologue has changed. That would make a much more interesting book.
Or even a book with a character that challenges Miles's behaviour. Unfortunately, there is none of that, just a relentless ramble about how life is so difficult for him.
This book reminded me of Only Say the Word by Niall Williams (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...), which is another man whingeing after making bad life choices.
I just realised the author is called Miles and so is the protagonist of this book ... is this book autobiographical ... if so, I feel bad about my review now.
April 5, 2020
There are so many ways that this book could have gone terribly wrong and it came perilously close to self-indulgent wankery: "managed a couple of pages of Proust". But the author was actually surprisingly self-aware and willing to bare his own shortcomings in ways that are unusual for a late 20s/early 30s guy and it made for much better reading than anticipated. I found the dissection of his relationship with his ex the most interesting/powerful part - the bits around Bafdescu served more as a device than holding standalone interest for me. The writing was skillful and unique.
June 29, 2023
I really enjoyed this book; loved the story and the writing and I found the main character endearing for all his foibles. The descriptions and observations were so artfully described without being pretentious. The writing really wonderful and just the style I love. And very creative and unexpected. Loved the story about the made up surrealist artist as a corollary for what else was going on
September 12, 2021
This is the only time I've felt understood as an art school graduate.
I lapped up every single word. The audiobook was a beautifully read experience. Now I'll buy it to read again and gift to someone I know will love it too.
I lapped up every single word. The audiobook was a beautifully read experience. Now I'll buy it to read again and gift to someone I know will love it too.
December 3, 2021
Extraordinaryl freshly written book which is deeply personal, moves easily through time and between dream's fantasies and realities described in such a clear light that one is 'there' feeling like a voyeur. A compelling read!
July 3, 2017
Bolinda audiobook.
The main character was gross.
The main character was gross.
July 24, 2017
A curious construction that is quite novel.
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