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A strong whiff of goodbyes: The Pole and Other Stories, by J.M. Coetzee, reviewed

‘The cogs are seizing up, the lights are going out.’ As Elizabeth Costello clears her desk in this collection of stories, we feel that Coetzee may be doing the same

9 December 2023

9:00 AM

9 December 2023

9:00 AM

The Pole and Other Stories J.M. Coetzee

Harvill Secker, pp.272, 20

New books by, articles about or Sasquatch-like sightings of J.M. Coetzee routinely send me back to that infamous YouTube clip of Geoff Dyer face-planting while being introduced by Coetzee at the Adelaide Book Festival – an episode often cited as evidence that the Nobel Laureate has no sense of humour.

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