Max is pissed. About what she’s not exactly sure. She just knows shit’s not right in the world and she wants to bring it all crashing down so everyone can start again. The depression-induced suicide of her friend Box is the final push that sends her off on a trip along the southeast coast of Australia with her pothead boyfriend Henry in tow to find... again precisely what she doesn’t know. But she knows she’ll discover it eventually among the ecofighters, energy-breathing hippies, techno-ravers and other counterculture “freaks” she and her boyfriend meet along the way. Or maybe she’ll find the will and way to make everything finally go up in a big fireball when she joins up with the probably-psychotic, definitely dangerous Jenny Mental.
Or maybe not. Max really has no idea.
The Unaustralians is part Catcher in the Rye, part Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with a bit of Fight Club’s ennui-driven violence mixed in. Oskar Wyldkat’s prose is quick and quite beautiful at times. The plot meanders about quite a bit, but then so does Max. She encapsulates well the aimlessness and desire to “mean” something (along with the naiveté and, well, dumbass-ness) which is the plague of most young adults.
The ending comes rather abrupt. It does, though, feel like a fitting denouement to Max’s search. I hope there will eventually be a sequel. But then again, maybe it’s best to leave her at this cliffhanger...
You can get a copy of the Unaustralians on Amazon.
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