Trap (novel)

Trap

First edition
Author	Peter Mathers
Country	Australia
Language	English
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Cassell, Australia
Publication date	1966
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Preceded by	–
Followed by	The Wort Papers

Trap (1966) is the first novel by Australian author Peter Mathers.^[1] It won the Miles Franklin Award for 1966.^[2]

Story outline[]

The novel follows the life of Jack Trap, a man living on the outskirts of Melbourne in the 1960s. Trap is of mixed Irish, English and Aboriginal background, in his forties and fat. He joins with a small group of outsiders and travels to a mining lease on Cape York to form a co-operative community.

Critical reception[]

In The Canberra Times Maurice Dunlevy found that the attempted satire fell well short of its target: "Trap is a first novel and reads like one. It attempts to be satirical, shocking and avant garde — succeeds only in being naive...His irony is too heavy, his targets are too obvious and he never cuts deeper than satirical revue."^[3]

References[]

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