Ronnie Scott

‘I was an agent of Dan, a captive of his, really. I went where he wanted me, and did as he wanted, and for a long time, in this way, I was happy.’ It’s been a long winter in a creaky house in Brunswick, where a young man has devoted himself to recreational showers, staring at his phone, and speculating on the activities of his best friend and housemate, Dan. But now summer is coming, and Dan has found a boyfriend and a job, so the young man is being pushed out into the world, in search of friendship and love. The Adversary is a sticky summer novel about young people exploring their sexuality and their sociability, where everything smells like sunscreen and tastes like beer, but affections and alliances have consequences. It asks what kinds of stories are possible – or desirable – for which kinds of friendships, and what happens when you follow those stories to their natural conclusions.

The Adversary

The daughter of a celebrity must discover who is worthy of her devotion and who is just a fan. It’s been twenty years since her mother was photographed, blood-soaked, outside the family home. A famous TV food personality, she fled the country. Since that time, the girl has grown up. She’s bought an apartment, learned her own cooking style, fallen in love. She lives a quiet life, working as a copywriter for a health insurance company. She’s found happiness, finally. But strange things are in the air. Her easygoing boyfriend has started sleeping with men. Her mother is selling the infamous family home. And a glamorous, pregnant neighbour has moved into the apartment downstairs, calling into question everything the girl believes about her own desires. Among conspiracies, dubious loyalties, and mercenary impulses, how do we work out who is worthy of our devotion and who is just a fan? Shirley charts a search for meaning in a world where the fracturing of ambitions – work and purpose, real estate and home, family and love – has left us uncertain how to recognise ourselves.

Shirley

Since 2007, The Lifted Brow has grown into Australia's most exciting literary magazine, publishing hot local talent like Benjamin Law, Romy Ash, and Anna Krien alongside international stars like Karen Russell, Heidi Julavits, and David Foster Wallace. The Best of The Lifted Brow celebrates five years of sheer nerve and dangerous excess. Alongside strange, sharp fiction from Frank Moorhouse, Christos Tsiolkas, and Rick Moody, there's personal essay and reportage that ranges wide and digs deep: Luke Ryan gets cancer twice, Michaela McGuire sabotages her casino job, Liam Pieper investigates how cocaine gets to Australia, and Alice Pung discovers just how different girls can grow up to be.

Volume one

The Best of The Lifted Brow

Mike Hennessey

This new edition has a preface by Ronnie Scott's long-term business partner, musician Pete King.

Some of My Best Friends Are Blues

Strange Flowers tells the stories of 9 writers and artists working between Australia and China, offering perspectives on two cultures. It takes us into the cities and towns of modern China, into the Australian studios and homes of creative people, and sheds light on the daily translation and transformation needed to bridge the gaps.

澳大利亞和中國在藝術寫作中的交匯融合

異花

In Salad Days, Ronnie Scott interrogates our current obsession with food - and asks whether it's actually such a bad thing. Salad Days takes us via the world's best restaurants in Noma and elBulli, and more humble yet no less delicious restaurants and cafés in Melbourne, while interrogating how we use food to relate to one another, the particular joy of hearing about someone else's experience of a glorious meal (even via social media), and why members of gen Y are spending extravagantly on food when they can't afford real estate. Scott looks at the more challenging aspects of this conspicuous consumption as well - ethical eating, sustainability, class concerns. If food offers us a 'curious mixture between comfort and disturbance, staying put and going far', is that something to worry about, or to celebrate? Salad Days is a fascinating and lyrical look at a particular moment in our history and society, and an important contribution to an ongoing debate about how we eat.

Salad Days

In Salad Days, Ronnie Scott interrogates our current obsession with food – and asks whether it's actually such a bad thing. Salad Days takes us via the world's best restaurants in Noma and elBulli, and more humble yet no less delicious restaurants and cafés in Melbourne, while interrogating how we use food to relate to one another, the particular joy of hearing about someone else's experience of a glorious meal (even via social media), and why members of gen Y are spending extravagantly on food when they can't afford real estate. Scott looks at the more challenging aspects of this conspicuous consumption as well – ethical eating, sustainability, class concerns. If food offers us a 'curious mixture between comfort and disturbance, staying put and going far', is that something to worry about, or to celebrate? Salad Days is a fascinating and lyrical look at a particular moment in our history and society, and an important contribution to an ongoing debate about how we eat.

Penguin Special

A story about sexuality, the ache of friendship and love, and sticky summers at the pool, this exhilarating debut novel captures the heartbeat of one transformative summer where alliances are made and broken. 'I was an agent of Dan, a captive of his, really. I went where he wanted me, and did as he wanted, and for a long time, in this way, I was happy.' It's been a long winter in a creaky house in Brunswick, where a young man has devoted himself to recreational showers, staring at his phone and speculating on the activities of his best friend and housemate, Dan. But now summer is coming and Dan has found a boyfriend and a job, so the young man is being pushed out into the world, in search of friendship and love. The Adversary is a sticky summer narrative about young people exploring their sexuality and their sociability, where everything smells like sunscreen and tastes like beer, but affections and alliances have consequences. It asks what kinds of stories are possible - or desirable - for which kinds of friendships, and what happens when you follow those stories to their natural conclusions.

Ronnie Scott

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