Book Club - Max Easton's The Magpie Wing

Today I’ve got a book that’s pure Sydney. Max Easton is a writer, musician and podcaster from Western Sydney. His debut novel The Magpie Wing comes out this week and I’m just going to keep saying it; this is a sucky time to be an artist creating because it is so hard to get your art out there. The Magpie Wing is a sprawling narrative taking in the geography and the history or Sydney and its subcultures and if you miss walking around the streets of your town and getting out to see bands and drinks in beer gardens; well The Magpie Wing might just be the next best thing. Starting us off in the 90s Walt, Helen and Duncan are growing up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney. Walt and Duncan are paired on the footy field. Duncan serves as Walt’s protector, while Walt explores his precocious footballing talent. Rugby League is tribal for the boys and their families and they know that they’s rather live in the legacy of the likes of Tommy Raudonikas than the silvertails in the east. Walt’s older sister Helen can’t play with the boys but she can run water and plays to the team. As the three grow up together they each start looking for more than their suburban existence offers. As their family life breaks down Walt and Helen gravitate towards Sydney's Inner West. There they find underground success in the punk and noise music scene, and Walt is able to explore his growing political consciousness. Duncan stays at home, diligently completing uni and finds himself in a more conventional job. As the three criss-cross each other's lives they find themselves with contradictory purposes and opaque goals. Always present though is where they came from and how bening from the west defines them in other people’s eyes. The Magpie Wing is a compelling story told in a matter of fact, almost deadpan tone. Spanning three decades and taking in much more of Sydney’s history and east west divide the storytelling avoids nostalgia as assiduously as it avoids taking sides despite its characters strongly held beliefs. Exploring classicism, gentrification, punk ethos and the ever present danger of selling out The Magpie Wing cuts its politics with humour and is not afraid to pull the rug out from under itself. I think there’s plenty for any Sydneysider to recognise in The Magpie Wing and plenty more to learn, because in our so-called City of Villages people are rarely from more than one place and by virtue a tourist everywhere else they go. Max Easton’s The Magpie Wing is brand new. It’s out this week from Giramondo who are a fabulous independent publisher of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. If you want to hear more about The Magpie Wing, Max Easton is joining me on the show this Saturday morning. He’s a terrific guy to chat to so tune in and he’s also a great muso so I might even get some tunes up on the show... Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week from 2ser. https://2ser.com/final-draft