Life, however, insists on throwing obstacles in Eli’s path-most notably Tytus Broz, Brisbane’s legendary drug dealer.īut the real trouble lies ahead. The most steadfast adult in Eli’s life is Slim-a notorious felon and national record-holder for successful prison escapes-who watches over Eli and August, his silent genius of an older brother.Įxiled far from the rest of the world in Darra, a neglected suburb populated by Polish and Vietnamese refugees, this twelve-year-old boy with an old soul and an adult mind is just trying to follow his heart, learn what it takes to be a good man, and train for a glamorous career in journalism. His father is lost, his mother is in jail, and his stepdad is a heroin dealer. They enable him to carve out the best of what’s possible from the worst of what is, which is the miracle that makes this novel marvelous.” -Washington PostĪ 'thrilling' ( New York Times Book Review) novel of love, crime, magic, fate and a boy’s coming of age in 1980s Australia, named one of the best literary fiction titles of 2019 by Library Journal.Įli Bell’s life is complicated. Eli’s remarkably poetic voice and his astonishingly open heart take the day. “ Boy Swallows Universe hypnotizes you with wonder, and then hammers you with heartbreak. 'The best book I read this decade.' -Sharon Van Etten in Rolling Stone

Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton