I Hate Martin Amis et al. (20 page)

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W
hen I've finished writing this sentence, this sentence I'm writing now, I shall close this Collins notebook for the last time and throw it, along with its companion volume, if possible with a degree of nonchalance and urbanity, into the far corner of this room, where I'll leave them to rot or perhaps, you never know – and I truly don't care – to one day rise up, well up – even spew forth – on the tide of universal testimony.

And at the end, the very end, is the Word.

This novel has had a very long gestation, and many people have helped and encouraged me along the way. I thank them all, but in particular Barry Scott at Transit Lounge for his generosity, and for being brave enough to go where no one else dared. Penelope Goodes for her professional, sensitive editing. Lindsay Barry for her patience in putting up with my dreams for far longer than anyone else. Merrin Cameron for her persistence in clearing so many blockages to publication. Dr. Leonie Naughton, my sometime muse, who sadly did not stay for the champagne. Bryan Keon-Cohen who is travelling the same path as me and always encourages. Most importantly, I wish to thank Elizabeth Orr, my favourite and most loyal reader, for her love and support, and for her endlessly perceptive, if frequently painful, criticisms.

An earlier version of
I Hate Martin Amis et al.
was the winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Prize for an Unpublished Manuscript.

Peter Barry is an itinerant mongrel. He's English, French, Irish and a Channel Islander. Born in England, he was brought up in Scotland. He has lived in Edinburgh, London, Paris and Sydney. For the meantime he lives with his wife, and works as a copywriter, in Melbourne.