Christos Tsiolkas

Barracuda

Published 2013-11-01 · 452 pages

Raised by a hairdresser single mom in a tiny Melbourne flat, Danny is elevated to an elite world by his Olympics-level swimming talent and must consider returning home twenty years later when a family member reaches out for help.

Damascus

The Slap

Published 2008-10-11 · 498 pages

"Although this is Australian author Tsiolkas’ fourth novel, it is the first to be published in the U.S. With its raw style, liberal use of profanity and racial epithets, and laserlike focus on the travails of suburban life, it is a down-and-dirty version of Tom Perrotta’s best-selling Little Children (2004). At a barbecue in a Melbourne suburb, a man loses his temper and slaps the child of the host’s friends. This incident unleashes a slew of divisive opinions, pitting friends and families against each other as the child’s parents take the man to court.