I Want Everything by Dominic Amerena

Dominic Amerena’s I Want Everything is a sharp, sly, and provocative debut that grapples with literary ambition, moral ambiguity, and the nature of authorship. Set against the decaying edges of Melbourne’s artistic circles, this contemporary novel introduces an unnamed narrator, an aspiring writer stalled in his career, who believes he’s stumbled upon a miracle: Brenda Shales, a once-revered and now long-vanished novelist, spotted doing laps at the local pool.

What begins as a serendipitous discovery quickly devolves into a story of parasitism disguised as literary pursuit. Mistaken by Brenda as her grandson, the narrator allows the lie to linger and then exploits it to gain access to her life, her story, and potentially, her literary legacy. This setup, inherently deceptive, unfolds with biting humour and a creeping sense of dread. As the narrator begins to craft a manuscript that blends memoir, biography, and self-aggrandising commentary, the line between art and theft blurs disturbingly.

Amerena’s style is richly textured and unapologetically erudite. His prose walks a delicate line between cleverness and self-indulgence, mirroring the narrator’s own pretensions. Readers fond of minimalist realism may find the vocabulary dense, but those familiar with the literary world it skewers will recognise the accuracy (and satire) in every overworked phrase. The lack of quotation marks for dialogue might frustrate, but Amerena manages to maintain a rhythm that distinguishes speech from narrative more often than not.

The novel’s great strength lies in its layered character work. Brenda Shales is a revelation: sardonic, grounded, and intellectually formidable, she challenges the narrator and the reader to confront what storytelling really means. Is truth secondary to narrative coherence? Can a story be “stolen” if its teller has no use for it anymore? Amerena poses these questions without easy answers, crafting an ethical minefield that lingers long after the final page.

The protagonist himself is difficult to like, and that’s precisely the point. He is morally suspect, desperate for validation, and increasingly unreliable. Yet it’s through his slow unravelling - both professionally and psychologically - that the novel earns its emotional and intellectual weight. His lies compound, and as the biographical project morphs into something more unhinged, we’re forced to consider: who really owns a story, and at what cost is it told?

While comparisons to Yellowface are inevitable, I Want Everything avoids pastiche. Its critique of Australian literary culture, complete with defunct journals, postgraduate pretensions, and the industry’s ravenous hunger for ‘the next big thing,’ is incisive and timely. The novel’s conclusion resists closure, offering instead an open-ended meditation on narrative authority and artistic desire.

In short, I Want Everything is not an easy read but it is a rewarding one. Wickedly funny, intellectually provocative, and structurally daring, it marks Amerena as a talent to watch. For those willing to sit with discomfort, deception, and an unlikable narrator with razor-sharp prose, this debut offers a rare and compelling literary experience.

Reviewer: Chris Reed

Summit Books