1
of
1
First Person
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 2,233 ratings, 398 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2400
$2600
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
First Person
$2400
$2600
Elsewhere:
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Flanagan's best work to date. - Readings Magazine
What is the truth? In this blistering story of a ghost writer haunted by his demonic subject, the Man Booker Prize winner turns to lies, crime and literature with devastating effect.
About to go to trial for defrauding the banks of millions, con man and corporate criminal Siegfried Heidl offers broke writer Kif Kehlmann a deal he can't refuse - $10,000 for Kehlmann to ghost write his memoir in six weeks.
As the deadline draws closer and Heidl grows increasingly erratic, Kehlmann becomes unsure if he is ghost writing a memoir or if Heidl is rewriting him - his life, his future.
As tension slowly mounts, boundaries and identities blur, everything that was certain grows uncertain, and the young writer finds himself no longer sure if he is Kif Kehlmann - or a murderous criminal.
At a time when truth is daily contorted, debauched or ignored, we require Flanagan's artful reminder of the wreckage caused by our unwillingness to say what happened. - Washington Post
Both comic and frightening... Touched with the virtuosity that shone so brightly in The Narrow Road to the Deep North that are pure Flanagan... Studded with sharp, breath-catching observations about the finite nature of life. - Financial Times
Powerful, funny, disturbing, moving... Flanagan candidly and honestly confronts the raw truths of the writing life and the family life, material and spiritual poverty, love and despair and desire. - Australian
A triumph... a parable for the age of Trump... As harrowing a book as any I've read. - Weekend Australian
Brilliant... full of hilarious asides, this sonorous, blackly comic novel offers searing insight into our times. - Booklist (US)
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
First Person by Richard Flanagan has received praise for its compelling narrative and intense psychological depth, showcasing Flanagan's skill in blending reality with fiction. Critics have noted the book's exploration of ethical boundaries and identity, delivered through a gripping storyline. The writing style is often highlighted for its richness and ability to engage the reader deeply.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781761048128
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 16 May 2023
Country: Australia
Imprint: Penguin Random House Australia
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 25.0mm
Width: 130.0mm
Height: 197.0mm
Weight: 272g
Pages: 400
About the Author
Richard Flanagan has been described by the Washington Post as 'one of our greatest living novelists' and as 'among the most versatile writers in the English language' by the New York Review of Books. He won the Booker Prize for The Narrow Road to the Deep North and the Commonwealth Prize for Gould's Book of Fish. His most recent book is Question 7.
Also by Richard Flanagan
View all-
Question 7
Beginning at a love hotel by Japan's Inland Sea and ending by a river in Tasmania, Question 7 is about the choices we make about love and the chain reaction that follows. By way of H. G. Wells and Rebecca West's affair through 1930s nuclear physics to Flanagan's father working as a slave labourer near Hiroshima when the atom bomb...Paperback$2200Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
The highly anticipated Australian original series based on Richard Flanagan's Booker Prize-winning novel is launching on Prime Video on 18 April 2025. A masterpiece . . . The Narrow Road to the Deep North is an extraordinary piece of writing and a high point in an already distinguished career. - Michael Williams, The Guardian Available on Prime Video from 18...Paperback$1999Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Wanting
Richard Flanagan's Wanting reminds us that he is one of the most exciting novelists working anywhere, full stop - The Age From the winner of the Man Booker Prize. The bestselling, universally lauded novel of desire and its denial from acclaimed writer Richard Flanagan. Van Diemen's Land, 1841. Mathinna, the adopted Aboriginal daughter of the island's governor, Sir John Franklin,...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Sound Of One Hand Clapping
The Sound Of One Hand Clapping is described as a 'heartbreaking story, beautifully told' by the Literary Review, and it delivers from its wonderfully atmospheric opening to its touching conclusion. Written by the winner of the Man Booker Prize, The Sound Of One Hand Clapping is one of the most-loved and biggest-selling literary novels in Australian history. In the winter...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Gould's Book Of Fish
'A work of pure brilliance', Seattle Times From the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2014, this is his Commonwealth Writers' Prize-winning novel. Once upon a time, which was called 1828, before all fishes in the sea and all living things on the land were destroyed, there was a man named William Buelow Gould. A white convict who fell in...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Death Of A River Guide
One of the most auspicious debuts in Australian writing. – Times Literary Supplement From the winner of the Man Booker Prize, Death of a River Guide, Richard Flanagan's debut novel, is widely regarded as a classic in Australian literature. Beneath a waterfall on the Franklin, Aljaz Cosini, river guide, lies drowning. Beset by visions at once horrible and fabulous, he...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
A masterpiece . . . The Narrow Road to the Deep North is an extraordinary piece of writing and a high point in an already distinguished career. - Michael Williams, The Guardian A novel of the cruelty of war, the tenuousness of life, and the impossibility of love. August, 1943. In the despair of a Japanese POW camp on the...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Living Sea of Waking Dreams
Richard Flanagan is one of the greatest writers at work in the world today - I admire him and his writing immensely. The Living Sea of Waking Dreams is a haunting, urgent and important book about our broken and confusing age," says James Rebanks. In a world of perennial fire and growing extinctions, Anna's aged mother is dying—if her three...Paperback$2400Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Question 7
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize 2024 Beginning at a love hotel by Japan's Inland Sea and ending by a river in Tasmania, Question 7 is about the choices we make about love and the chain reaction that follows. By way of H. G. Wells and Rebecca West's affair through 1930s nuclear physics to Flanagan's father working as a slave...Hardback$3600Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Seize the Fire
In Seize the Fire, Richard Flanagan argues that Australia is not a fixed entity, but a molten idea—a country with a future that is ours to shape and ours to dream anew. Australia is not a fixed entity, a collection of outdated bigotries and reactionary credos, but rather an invitation to dream, and this country—our country—belongs to its dreamers. If...Paperback$1500Elsewhere:$1599Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Notes on an Exodus
Notes on an Exodus explores the exodus of refugees from Syria, crafted by Man Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan, with illustrations from Archibald Prize winner Ben Quilty. In January 2016, Richard Flanagan and Ben Quilty travelled to Lebanon, Greece, and Serbia to follow the river that signifies the exodus of our age—that of refugees from Syria. Flanagan's notes and Quilty's...Paperback$1299Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Pre-orderThe Narrow Road to the Deep North
The transformative story of war and love as a beautiful clothbound hardback, part of the Penguin Modern Australian Classics series. August, 1943. In the despair of a Japanese POW camp on the Thai-Burma death railway, Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans is haunted by his love affair with his uncle's young wife two years earlier. Struggling to save the men under his...Hardback$4000Unit price /UnavailableOut 8 Sep 2026Pre-order
More from Arts & Culture
View all-
Dylan's PickBold Types
A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...Hardback$5999Elsewhere:$7000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseDisney Moana: The Official Cookbook
Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...Hardback$4499Elsewhere:$5299Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
This Angry Pen of Mine
This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...Hardback$7299Elsewhere:$8999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
They Bloom Because of You
Bestselling author and Instagram sensation Jessica Urlichs returns with a new collection of beautifully observed poems about the ever-evolving journey of motherhood - the hard, the magic and the fleeting. ‘A raw and honest read that makes you feel seen and understood in a way that will bring you to tears.’ - Hilary Swank ‘A book to keep close and...Paperback$3000Elsewhere:$3600Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Leaves of Grass
A collectible new Penguin Classics series offers beautiful, slim, clothbound editions of ten favourite poets. In 1855, Walt Whitman published his first collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. The volume received great praise from leading Transcendentalist poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. This encouragement led to what would become a lifelong project, as Whitman expanded and rewrote the volume until his death...Hardback$2200Elsewhere:$2400Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Great Writers and the Cats who Owned Them
Throughout history, cats and writers have bonded together in a magical combination of comfort, companionship and inspiration. The famous authors featured here range from Samuel Johnson, whose cat Hodge dined on oysters, and Edward Lear, whose charismatic cat Foss was missing half his tail, to Margaret Mitchell, L. M. Montgomery and Dorothy L. Sayers, who rescued her kitten Blitz from...Hardback$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Beautiful Chaos
The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller Selected poems from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'These words awaken the magic of life by celebrating the ordinary.' - Giovanna Fletcher Motherhood is messy and beautiful, and hard and humbling. We adore our children and sometimes we miss ourselves. Beautiful Chaos is a collection of raw, honest poems about motherhood, capturing everything...Paperback$2900Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
To the Women - The New Collection of Wise Words Every Woman Needs
THE COMPLETELY UPDATED COLLECTION WITH OVER 70 BRAND NEW POEMS, FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.1 BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WILD HOPE AND WORDS TO LIVE BY 'Amazing . . . Donna's words speak to my heart' Davina McCall To the Women is a celebration of the beauty, strength, and joy of being a woman. A love letter to our deep capacity...Hardback$2999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
The Odyssey
Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travellers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. This fresh, authoritative translation captures the beauty of this ancient poem as well as the drama of its narrative....Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3599Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips late August -
Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour
The creative journey continues with Wreck This Journal: Now in Colour by Keri Smith, the latest and most vibrant edition of the groundbreaking series that redefined journaling. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this edition brings the playful destructiveness of the original to life in dazzling full colour, adding a dynamic new dimension to the beloved prompts. Whether you're a seasoned Wreck-er,...Paperback$2500Elsewhere:$2800Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Did I Ever Tell You This?
In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his...Paperback$3799Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips 1 Week -
A Thousand Feasts
THE INSTANT #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From award-winning writer Nigel Slater, comes a new and exquisitely written collection of notes, memoir, stories and small moments of joy. 'Nigel Slater’s prose is the rarest delicacy of all: exquisite yet effortless, filled with heart, tenderness, yearning and humour' ELIZABETH DAY For years, Nigel Slater has kept notebooks of curiosities and wonderings, penned...Paperback$2999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
