Venice is Book 2 in Nick Earls’ Wisdom Tree series of novellas; it follows Gotham which I reviewed last month.

The title is a reference to the Venice Biennale, where an invitation to exhibit would be a highlight of any artist’s career. The narrator, Ryan, recently ‘let go’ from a downsized mining company, is eking out his separation payment by staying with his sister Natalie who is preoccupied with her chances at the Biennale, while her husband Phil is preoccupied with being a successful dentist. They are a very successful couple: she has an installation in the NGV; they have a Margaret Olley on the wall and a pool in the garden; there are wine fridges full of expensive French wine, and their living-dining area is the size of a house like mine. But they are not at all preoccupied by their four-year-old son Harrison. For his part, Harrison is preoccupied by his tablet.

Ryan, who keeps his thoughts to himself about all this, is worried about the amount of screen time that the child has, and the lack of meaningful interaction in his life. Harrison is programmed into a routine of events, with day care, swimming lessons and scheduled days with his mother – when she’s not too busy. And since Uncle Ryan is now the de facto manny (i.e. a male nanny) he discovers that Harrison isn’t the best swimmer in his group because (despite the pool) he doesn’t practise at home; and that he has not had a turn at show-and-tell at day-care because (as we all know) parents have to invest a bit of time in the selection of the item with which to show and tell. Ryan has not had a lot of practice at being an uncle, but he ad-libs and is able to turn to advantage events that come their way.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/06/01/venice-by-nick-earls/ ( )