MONKEY GRIP

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by Helen Garner (1977)

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Nora loves Javo but Javo loves smack. Javo is infected with the junkie curse, whereby days of ordinary social engagement are interspersed with days of mayhem and other days of drowsy drug-induced bliss (for him). Javo disappears for days in search of smack or due to its effects and sometimes steals from his friends to finance his next hit. However, despite Javo’s unreliability, Nora continues to love him. Nora isn’t silly, she knows they have something special together, and they do, but a long-term relationship with a heroin addict is a complicated affair to say the least. As Nora gradually figures out where she stands and what she wants, Javo begins to drift away. Nora becomes stronger and wiser. Contains important sociological information regarding drug use and abuse; and about inner city living in Melbourne during the 1970s; and about shared living experiences that include alternative lifestyles. The housing arrangements resemble squats, but this is not made explicit within the book. Fiction. 245 pages.

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DETAILS:

Title: Monkey grip

Year: 1977

Author: Helen Garner

Pages: 245

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Book review by Keith Salter