Diary of a Bad Year

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J. M. Coetzee

Penguin Books, New York, 2007, English

Fiction

ISBN: 9780143114482

From the Publisher. J . M. Coetzee once again breaks literary ground with Diary of a Bad Year, a book that is, in the words of its protagonist, "a response to the present in which I find myself." Aging author Senor C has been commissioned to write a series of essays entitled Strong Opinions, of which he has many. After hiring a beautiful young typist named Anya, the two embark on a relationship that will have a profound impact on them both— especially when Alan, Anya's no-good boyfriend, develops designs on Senor C's bank account. Told in these three voices simultaneously, Coetzee has created any entirely new way of telling a story.

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Each page of this book is divided into three different parts: essays by Mr C. (a version of Coetzee) at the top, Mr C’s opinions about a woman in the middle, and her opinions about him at the bottom. The connection between these different stories is usually unclear, but the form invites you to make connections between texts that share a page.

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