Tinderbox

Megan Dunn

Aug 2024 · Sold by Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited

About this ebook

Megan Dunn had lost the plot—in her life and in her art. Her attempt to write a fictional tribute to Fahrenheit 451 wasn’t going well. Her employer, the bookseller Borders, was going bust. Her marriage was failing. Her prospects were narrowing. The world wasn’t quite against her – but it wasn’t with her either. Riffing on Ray Bradbury’s classic novel about the end of reading, Tinderbox is one of the most interesting books in decades about literary culture and its place in the world. More than that, it’s about how every one of us fits into that bigger picture – and the struggle to make sense of life in the twenty-first century. Ironically enough for a book about failures in art, Tinderbox itself is a fantastic achievement: a wonderfully crafted and beautifully written work of non-fiction that is by turns brilliantly funny and achingly sad. Tinderbox is one of the most successful books about failure you will ever read. Praise for Tinderbox: ‘Megan Dunn’s writing is utterly modern, sharp, unsentimental and beautiful; she tells a gripping story laced with humour and pathos. She is a writer to watch.’ - Michèle Roberts ‘Megan Dunn possesses a rare combination of assets – a highly original voice, great subject matter, enormous insight and serious literary ambition. Plus, she’s funny. Her work leaps off the page and makes the reader want more.’ - Kate Pullinger “It’s already one of my favourite New Zealand books.” – Hera Lindsay Bird, The Spinoff “Megan Dunn is a comic genius.” – Susanna Andrew, Metro “A wonderful, restless, formally daring first book” – James Cook, Review 31 Praise for Things I Learned at Art School: “It is, quite simply, a work of brilliance. It is an intelligent, sharp, and incisive body of work.” – Lana Lopesi, Metro “Dunn has an extraordinary facility with tone, an ability to be consistently funny while telling sad stories.” – David McCooey, Sydney Review of Books. “A rich, rewarding, funny and poignant memoir.” – Sally Blundell, Academy of New Zealand Literature “Dunn takes the reader on a digressive, funny and unflinching journey through late-20th-century New Zealand.” – Paula Morris, New Zealand Listener “As Megan Dunn makes clear in her wise, witty and wonderful memoir, the seeds of a creative life will bloom in the most unexpected of places.” – Jennifer Higgie, author of The Other Side

About the author

Megan Dunn is the author of two irreverent works of non-fiction Tinderbox (Galley Beggar Press, 2017) and her memoir in essays Things I Learned at Art School (Penguin Random House New Zealand, 2021.) Megan is as an art critic and essayist in New Zealand. She has published columns, reviews, personal essays and features for a wide range of media including the Guardian Australia, The New Zealand Listener, Metro, Newsroom and Art News New Zealand. She was once the visual arts correspondent on Radio New Zealand’s Saturday morning show, with broadcaster Kim Hill. So there. Megan graduated with a master’s in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. In 2006, she won an Escalator award from the New Writing Partnership (now the National Centre for Writing.) In 2022 she was the annual Writer in Residence at the International Institute of Modern Letters, based at Victoria University of Wellington, Te Herenga Waka. During this residency she worked on the first draft of her mer-moir and also curated an art exhibition The Mermaid Chronicles, based on her journeys to meet the world’s leading professional mermaids. You can watch a short clip of Megan speaking about mermaids on TVNZ. Megan has chaired literary events with national and international authors including Rachel Kushner, Olivia Laing and Noelle McCarthy. Megan lives and works in Wellington. She is also interested in crocodiles.