An Exciting and Vivid Inner Life (Paul Dalla Rosa, A&U)

The fiction of Melbourne-based Paul Dalla Rosa has been published in the Paris Review, Granta, McSweeney’s and Meanjin. His debut book, An Exciting and Vivid Inner Life, contains 10 short stories, six of them previously published. The stories are written in a plain, affectless voice, with little plot but often describing hair-raising scenarios. A young man moves to Dubai to make tax-free money; a restaurant worker in his spare time buys toys for an online sex performer; a call centre worker spends her money on rent, a psychologist and low-quality party drugs; a group of young men travel to a Pride March in Tel Aviv, one of them injecting melanin in order to attain a beautiful tan. This is life in the early 21st century, lived online and behind a screen. It’s a time of too much and not enough. Characters experience excess—drugs, sex, credit card debt—but are oddly disconnected from themselves. A recurring motif is the alienating nature of work and the transient nature of relationships. Dalla Rosa’s style is essentially ironic and absurdist. He lays bare a ridiculous world, full of meaningless conversations and lifeless parties, a world we must all be actors in. This is a bold first collection from a shrewd observer. If you enjoyed Naoise Dolan’s Exciting Times or the novels of Sally Rooney, you’re sure to find yourself addicted to the work of Paul Dalla Rosa.

Chris Saliba is the co-owner of North Melbourne Books.

Category: Reviews