‘Theory & Practice blazes with intelligence, passion and wit. I devoured it, greedily, in a single glorious sitting.’

‘Michelle de Kretser is a genius—one of the best writers working today. She is startlingly, uncannily good at naming and facing what is most difficult and precious about our lives. Theory & Practice is a wonder, a brilliant book that reinvents itself again and again, stretching the boundaries of the novel to show the ways in which ideas and ideals are folded into our days, as well as the times when our choices fail to meet them. There’s no writer I’d rather read.’

‘In the midst of a late coming-of-age plot effervescent with romantic and intellectual misadventure, de Kretser considers memory—how we enshrine our cultural heroes and how we tell ourselves the stories of our own lives—with absolute rigor and perfect clarity. Structurally innovative and totally absorbing, this is a book that enlivens the reader to every kind of possibility. I savored every word.’

‘Michelle de Kretser, one of the best writers in the English language, has written her most brilliant book yet. It is, in short, a masterpiece.’

‘One of the living masters of the art of fiction.’

‘Thrillingly original.’

‘Sharp-witted and mesmerising…The narrator’s clever political insights and beautiful depictions of art and literature offer readers a view into a captivating mind. De Kretser is at the top of her game.’

‘4.5 stars. An innovation blend of fiction, memoir and non-fiction…One of the characters says at one stage, “I’m going to focus on making art that doesn’t look like art”, which is what de Kretser has successfully achieved. Her spare, deceptively ingenuous prose works to convey the character’s inner world of conflicting ideologies, cultural contradictions and longing, with authority.’

‘Prepare to have your preconceived notions of what a novel can be shattered as you delve into this extraordinary work.’

‘Brilliant and mesmerising.’

‘…Intensely moving…’

‘I found it utterly engaging…I enjoyed it immensely.’

‘This strange little book is probably the best thing to be published in 2024. It refutes the cliches of the novel, memoir, and essay by somehow being all three at once. It’s funny, barefaced, human, supremely smart, and it grips the reader with a confidence in prose writing that is unparalleled. You’ll find something to marvel at on every page. Read and reread. I am obsessed.’

‘Theory & Practice functions as a potent reminder that the purpose of art is not always distinct from the purpose of life: generating imperfect pathways towards empathy. Through practical demonstration, de Kretser shows exactly what the novel can do. Only a novelist of her calibre could have written it.’

‘In connecting betrayals of trust in this loose-leafed, inclusive and utterly absorbing novel, de Kretser finds a fresh form and language for shameless witness.’

‘Michelle de Kretser has deployed fiction, essay, and memoir to powerful effect, showing without telling the “messy gap” and the “breakdowns” between theory and practice.’

‘There is a sense that we must approach de Kretser as the narrator herself approaches Woolf, by pushing our way through the obstacles she presents—knocking through the walls of ambiguity that stand between theory and practice and its elusive meaning—and adapt the spaces thereby created to our own “needs” as readers. To somehow—just as the narrator writes back to Woolf—“write back”, metaphorically at least, to de Kretser herself.’

‘In this ambitious and dazzling work, de Kretser illuminates the ways in which uncomfortable truths of class, race, privilege, desire and shame reside in the gap between theory and practice.’

‘A very intriguing novel…I definitely recommend it.’

‘An essential novel for anyone interested in the expansive possibilities of the literary form.’

‘You can feel the pangs of female jealousy, the strain of mother-daughter relationships and the spark of young love. Perfect for a summer read, but also with a timeless appeal.’

‘Theory & Practice takes seriously what it means to love: not only people, but ideas too. She shows how love’s ugliest emotions—jealousy, shame, disappointment, betrayal—are often embedded alongside the tricky thinking that breaks us down and shapes us, allowing us to glimpse other stories beneath the ones we inherit.’

‘A really delightful and clever and thoughtful book.’

‘De Kretser perceptively evokes how maternal figures, both birthright and adoptive, maintain a hold on us, despite our attempts to distance ourselves…A form-melding book contending with colonialism, the disharmony that can arise between our purported ideals and how we live, the depths of jealousy and shame, and motherhood and the maternal figures who shape us…An inquiry into what fiction can look like and what it can achieve.’

‘A perfectly observed meditation…Traverses the schisms of torn lovers, flawed heroes, imploding institutions, ignored phone calls from anxious mothers, clashing cultures, galvanising friendships, warm beds, cold sharehouses, theory and practice. And through it all, a yearning for life and experience that drives the young narrator on.’

‘In Theory & Practice, Michelle de Kretser’s familiar narrative dexterity and piercing moral sensibility are overlaid on a new schema which threads non-fiction and memoir elements through fiction. The subtle brilliance of the underlying conceit makes this one of her best novels, and probably the bravest.’

‘Michelle de Krester’s Theory & Practice hit all my sweet spots…’

‘An understated masterpiece, [Michelle de Kretser’s] best novel to date.’

‘[Michelle] de Kretser is at her formidable best in this exhilarating blend of memoir, fiction and essay…[A] brief, crystal-clear novel.’

‘[T]he novel’s spare, fragmented structure elegantly incorporates its contradictory chorus of voices and ideas, which combine to suggest complex truths.’

‘Fiction, memoir, fictional memoir and essay, Michelle de Kretser’s scintillating shape-shifter is a distillation of the ideas explored in her ever-evolving novels…Don’t be frightened by the title of this brilliant, cut-glass, funny novel, which is both love story and satire. De Kretser’s St Kilda is as memorable as Helen Garner’s Fitzroy.’

‘A genre-defying novel.’

‘A brilliant account of what it means to be a feminist and wrestling with universal emotions that cannot be denied. It’s a slim book, something you can finish in one glorious and insightful sitting.’

‘A thought-provoking narrative on desire, shame and moral complexities.’