Antonella Gambotto Books

I was just totally spellbound. This novel has everything you could want from a piece of fiction - color, pace, beauty, and a fantastic (unique?) use of language which reminded me of Nabokov and Bellow. The portrait of the tragedies that unfold within the family is just incredible. I really recommend this.

"The detail of the fiction verges on social reality - a warts and all rundown on Australian, American and UK society ... an erotic journey of self-acknowledgment." Harper's Bazaar

"A brilliant first novel." Cosmopolitan

"Multi-layered and shimmering." Liquid Space Digital

"Beautiful ... Florid and ornamental, lavish and extravagant ... a love story." The Daily Telegraph

"A triumph as a work of fiction." The Brisbane News

"Gambotto writes with great sensitivity and also has a keen eye for satire, which she uses to great effect." Tatler

"Rich, often infuriating, often ungraspable, often highly satisfying ... A novel of considerable gusto and daring." The Age

"Sharply observant and at times almost brutal, she has an exquisite ability to dissect pomp and vanity. A brilliant read." Fairlady

"Fierce ... Gambotto has successfully combined humour, sarcasm and insight to write a novel that cuts through the polished facade..." The Herald Sun

"Gambotto has hit on a winning formula - all life's excesses and vicissitudes are no match for her main character." The Morning Bulletin

"A Victorian gothic moral tale crossed with Jackie Collins' Hollywood Wives." Inside Melbourne

"This novel has it all - sex (lots and lots), adultery, murder, drugs, breakdowns and child abuse - with all the action... Cleo

"Gambotto possesses a major literary talent." Who

"You will certainly learn things from this book." The Times

"Gambotto's use of imagery and metaphor thus transcends most popular literature ... incisive." The Mensa International Journal

"The empathy and passion of a Bronte novel." The Perth Sunday Times

"Brilliant! Move over, Anais Nin!" The Sydney Morning Herald

"Dynasty written by a young Martin Amis on speed - full of gilded aristocrats, spleen and sex ..." Tempo

This beautiful book was surprising in so many ways. How can something so brutal in its honesty about suicidal urges and bereavement be so comforting? "Death is not the opposite of life; the opposite of death is birth," she writes. "Life has no opposite. It is a constant, like the universe. Suicide solves nothing." Amazing stuff.

This beautiful book was surprising in so many ways. How can something so brutal in its honesty about suicidal urges and bereavement be so comforting? "Death is not the opposite of life; the opposite of death is birth," she writes. "Life has no opposite. It is a constant, like the universe. Suicide solves nothing." Amazing stuff.

"Lunch of Blood" is a powerful collection of profiles by Antonella Gambotto, one of Australia's most controversial and uncompromising interviewers. She is penetrating in her observations, ruthless in her descriptions, and not afraid to have opinions. We may never meet the people laid bare by these profiles - but there is writing here which will make the reader feel as unsettled as the subjects were ... In the words of the Australian Bookseller & Publisher: "The interviews hang together superbly as a collection, largely because Gambotto has the astonishing ability to reveal the absolute essence of a person."

Subjects include Martin Amis, James Blundell, Bondage & Discipline Mistresses, Edward de Bono, Cardiothoracic Surgeons, Nick Cave, Gerard Depardieu, Alex Dimitriades, Gosia Dobrowolska, Ben Elton, Andrew Ettingshausen, Lisbeth Gorr, Rachel Hunter, Sean Kelly, Maria Kozic, Sophie Lee, Elle Macpherson, Male Prostitutes, Paul Mercurio, Morrissey, Thierry Mugler, Richard Neville, Marc Newson, John Pilger, Gretel Pinniger, Siimon Reynolds, Richard Stubbs, Noah Taylor, Naomi Wolf, and Aden Young.

"Unflinchingly reported ... notorious." The Sydney Weekly.