Derek Gunderson is a pianist in the last year of a degree at a
conservatorium of music. He is a fine pianist, coasting toward a
career in music. Emotionally complacent, he supplements his crushes
of the moment with casual, empty sex with his adventurous
ex-girlfriend. When he meets Jocasta Davies at a party, it
initially seems as though she will be another prize to pursue
lazily. Perhaps he'll get her, perhaps he won't. It hardly matters
to Derek when so many aspects of his life are so well taken care
of. Within a space of a couple of days, things fall apart for Derek
- an important performance is a disaster, Jocasta announces she is
involved with someone else, his ex-girlfriend starts seeing his
best friend and his health goes downhill. Derek is forced to
rebuild his character and life, reconcile his relationships and
face the terrifying fact that his driving passion for music, his
lifeblood is fading. Derek's confidence is suddenly crushed with
the awareness of all things he no longer knows or
understands.
Jesse Pentecost has created a modern-day Holden Caulfield
(Catcher in the Rye) who stands on the brink of adulthood,
where there is a realisation that there is a point in life where
the world promises everything but the future holds little certainty
at all. Full of honesty and humour, The Con is a beautifully
written, scalpel-sharp examination of the people and the choices
that make us who we are.