Author(s): Adele Dumont

Cultural Studies

When I've been overtaken, I have stood and watched the water in my porridge simmer away into the air, and then the oats turn black and crackle with dryness, and my ears fill with the smoke alarm's shriek. When Adele Dumont is diagnosed with trichotillomania - compulsive hair-pulling - it makes sense of much of her life to date. The seemingly harmless quirk of her late teens, which rapidly developed into almost uncontrollable urges and then into trance-like episodes, is a hallmark of the disease, as is the secrecy with which she guarded her condition from her family, friends, and the world at large. The diagnosis also opens up a rich line of inquiry. Where might the origins of this condition be found? How can we distinguish between a nervous habit and a compulsion? And how do we balance the relief of being 'seen' by others with our experience of shame? Reminiscent of the writing of Leslie Jamison and Fiona Wright, The Pulling is a fascinating exploration of the inner workings of a mind. In perfectly judged prose, both probing and affecting, Dumont illuminates how easily ritual can slide into obsession, and how close beneath the surface horror and darkness can lie. 'Adele Dumont's The Pulling is a compulsively readable, frank, and disquieting memoir. Dumont wields Ernaux-like precision to analyse and contextualise the obsession that has made and unmade her life. The writing is candid, fearless, and profound, and it takes on questions most of us lack the backbone to face. Dumont asks what is more real, our lived or unlived lives? Are we ourselves even in our deepest compulsions? The Pulling calls to mind the unsettling clarity of Yiyun Li and Linn Ullmann. I could not put this book down.' -Ellena Savage, author of Blueberries Praise for No Man Is an Island- 'No Man Is an Island is essential reading for anyone who assumes they understand what the asylum seeker issue is all about, regardless of their opinion.' -Sydney Morning Herald Praise for No Man Is an Island- 'Dumont has a way of demonstrating the humanity of the refugees, but also of the Australians who have them in their charge, in a way that could reach the naysayers in ways the stereotypes of political discourse cannot.' -Weekend Australian