Readings Newsletter
Become a Readings Member to make your shopping experience even easier.
Sign in or sign up for free!
You’re not far away from qualifying for FREE standard shipping within Australia
You’ve qualified for FREE standard shipping within Australia
The cart is loading…

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Set in a northern capital at the end of the nineteenth century, this novel follows a young, unnamed writer drifting between hope and desperation. With no steady work and little to eat, he roams streets and parks, pawns his last belongings, and tries to sell short pieces to newspapers. Each moment of hunger sharpens and warps perception: small slights loom large, kindness feels like insult, and stray details glow with strange meaning. Inner monologue and quick shifts of mood replace plot mechanics, building a portrait of a mind tested by cold, pride, and need. The city itself becomes a partner in this struggle-beckoning, refusing, and mirroring the narrator's faltering steps.
Written in spare scenes and restless bursts of thought, the book helped pioneer psychological realism and the turn toward modernism. It remains a vivid, unsettling study of survival, dignity, and the cost of holding on to art when the body is failing.
$9.00 standard shipping within Australia
FREE standard shipping within Australia for orders over $100.00
Express & International shipping calculated at checkout
Stock availability can be subject to change without notice. We recommend calling the shop or contacting our online team to check availability of low stock items. Please see our Shopping Online page for more details.
This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.
Set in a northern capital at the end of the nineteenth century, this novel follows a young, unnamed writer drifting between hope and desperation. With no steady work and little to eat, he roams streets and parks, pawns his last belongings, and tries to sell short pieces to newspapers. Each moment of hunger sharpens and warps perception: small slights loom large, kindness feels like insult, and stray details glow with strange meaning. Inner monologue and quick shifts of mood replace plot mechanics, building a portrait of a mind tested by cold, pride, and need. The city itself becomes a partner in this struggle-beckoning, refusing, and mirroring the narrator's faltering steps.
Written in spare scenes and restless bursts of thought, the book helped pioneer psychological realism and the turn toward modernism. It remains a vivid, unsettling study of survival, dignity, and the cost of holding on to art when the body is failing.