The Doubleman

{{infobox book |

| name = The Doubleman

| title_orig =

| translator =

| image = File:The Doubleman.jpg

| caption = First edition (UK)

| author = Christopher Koch

| illustrator =

| cover_artist =

| country = Australia

| language = English

| series =

| genre = Novel

| publisher = Chatto and Windus, England

| release_date = 1985

| english_release_date =

| media_type = Paperback

| pages = 326pp

| isbn = 0-7011-2945-X

| oclc = 12481000

| preceded_by = The Year of Living Dangerously

| followed_by = Highways to a War

}}

The Doubleman (1985) is a novel by Australian author Christopher Koch.{{cite web|title= Austlit - The Doubleman by Christopher Koch |publisher= Austlit|url= https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/C185277|accessdate= 14 July 2023}} It won the Miles Franklin Award in 1985.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131703776 "Koch wins literary award", The Canberra Times, 14 May 1986, p7]

Synopsis

Clive Broderick is a guitarist with the electric folk group The Rymers. Richard Miller, the group's producer, was stricken with poliomyelitis as a child and lives in a world of fantasy. And that fantasy may threaten the success of the group.

Critical reception

Veronica Sen in The Canberra Times noted: "Some years ago Koch told interviewer Helen Frizell that the writer must resolve that what he is saying is 'on the side of goodness rather than of evil'. His fascinating, if not always subtle, novel explores individual and social obsession and the appeal of the irrational. Showing the self-indulgence and sterility in much of modern fakelore — cut-price revelation, fame and the manipulation of others — he is undoubtedly on the side of the angels."{{cite web|title="Koch lines up with the angels" |publisher= The Canberra Times, 11 May 1985, p18|url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127008933|accessdate= 14 July 2023}}

Publishing history

After the novel's initial publication by Chatto and Windus in 1985,{{cite web|title= The Doubleman (Chatto & Windus) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/3004181|accessdate= 14 July 2023}} it was then published as follows:

McGraw Hill, USA, 1986{{cite web|title= The Doubleman (McGraw Hill) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/286536|accessdate= 14 July 2023}}
Grafton Books, UK, 1986{{cite web|title= The Doubleman (Grafton Books) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2962973|accessdate= 14 July 2023}}
Angus and Robertson, Australia, 1992{{cite web|title= The Doubleman (A&R) |publisher= National Library of Australia|url= https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2604|accessdate= 14 July 2023}}

and various other paperback editions.

The novel was translated into French (1986), Spanish (1987), Portuguese (1988), and German (1991).

The Doubleman

Synopsis

Critical reception

Publishing history

References

See also