‘Is the world produced by our self-understanding?’

Mr O Winds Back the Clock

It is crunch time for the fastidious copy editor Seamus Cullen, who decades earlier had lived very differently. Failing at work and required to take leave, he finds solace in memories of his freewheeling twenties, and pursues them back to a present that’s subtly altered.

His crisis has followed the death of a friend, the masterful doctor who set him up with his belated first love – and whom he had mocked for his resistance to getting loose in warm company. This sudden departure has unsettled him more than he can easily admit.

Seamus bolsters his recollections with contemporary sketches he had made of his share-household life, some of whose characters remain in his orbit. In this refreshing, often funny story about pleasure and choices, he traces the proceeds of their bargains with ambition and reconsiders his own.

Praise for Mr O

I have never read a book like it, and don’t expect to. It’s brave and intelligent. Immaculate prose.Bruce L Russell

Given his experience, it’s no surprise to find he can write.Caroline Overington, Literary Editor, The Weekend Australian

Dive deeper

This whole idea of Mr O Winds Back the Clock – it’s such a great title for the book because that’s exactly what he’s doing. He’s kind of going back to the past and trying to repair it. It’s almost like a time-travel novel. – Ben Lindner, host of books podcast Beyond The Zero.

Details

Genre: Literary fiction (psychological)

Size: 6 x 9 inches

Extent: 344pp

ISBN

978-1-7635379-2-7 (ebook)

978-1-7635379-1-0 (paperback)

978-1-7635379-0-3 (hardcover)

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I J Baker

Image: Shea Kirk (detail).

Ian Baker accepted his first editorial position at the age of 24, having laboured previously at a timber yard, a food factory, a dairy farm, several vineyards, and a call centre, and having relied for many months on unemployment relief – known colloquially at that time as the dole. 

He has since worked as a reporter, feature writer and editor on magazines, newspapers and news websites in three Australian capitals.

Dr Baker holds a PhD in ethics, and has studied under the novelist Gerald Murnane. He has two daughters, and lives in Melbourne, where he was born.

His intricate debut novel, Mr O Winds Back the Clock, draws its settings from share-houses and newspaper production desks.

Contact

Email: IJB [at] ijbaker [dot] com [dot] au

Facebook: I J Baker