Black teeth by Zane Lovitt: 16 March, 2017

"Lovitt was the Ned Kelly Award-winning author of the collection The Midnight Promise, and this full-length novel is another testament to his skills as a storyteller. The voice of Jason, an ungainly tech-head who would righteously mock me in online forums for using the phrase ‘tech-head’, is clear and true: a man shrouded in anxiety and embedded in the world of his laptop, infrequently surfacing under a new identity to face the world and stitch someone up." – Fiona Hardy

Zane Lovitt was a documentary filmmaker before turning his hand to crime fiction. His debut novel, The midnight promise, won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, and led to Zane being named one of the Best Young Novelists of 2013 by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Zane will join us for a Q&A on Thursday, 9 March between 8 and 9pm. Please leave any questions you have below. (And discuss his writing at your leisure!)

Want to buy Black teeth? Receive 10% off when purchasing it from Readings at State Library Victoria. To receive the discount online, enter the promo code BOOKCLUB in the promo code box during online checkout. To receive the discount at our State Library bookshop, simply mention the Thursday night book club at the counter.

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Hi Zane - sorry to miss the book club tonight. Really enjoyed Black Teeth. What made you decide to take a non-linear approach to the narrative?

Howdy Eoin

There are two things that drove the decision (mine and my Editor's) to stick with the non-chronological structure of the book.

The first is that I just like that kind of story more. I found a million different ways to tell a non-linear story in my first book (alright, about ten different ways) and I value it whenever I come across it in a novel or movie. While I accept that it is most valuable when it complements the content in some fashion (the classic argument that form equals content), I don't accept that that's the only time to embrace it. I think readers get bored quickly because they're not given enough work to do. Readers (like me) enjoy a puzzle, and if you can present a story as a puzzle and which therefore requires a little bit more energy to understand, I think there's an innate gratification that comes with that.

The second is that it suited the opening of the book and the ending. I think there's a lot of interest generated in those first moments at Rudy's house, and I liked the symmetry of presenting the first and last chapter out of order. As for the ending, I would argue that there's more power in it if we find out what happened at Tristan's house, and what 'Benjamin' did at the river, AFTER knowing how things between Glen, Jason and Rudy come to end. I would argue the counterpoint is stronger that way. But I could be wroooo-oooong!!!

cheers!
z