Some Doves and Pythons

Some Doves and Pythons is a 1966 novel by Sumner Locke Elliott.[1]

Some Doves and Pythons
First US edition
AuthorSumner Locke Elliott
LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarper & Row (US)
Publication date
1966
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages249

It was his second novel following Careful He Might Hear You. Elliott later said "I wanted it to be very different and: (a) I wanted it to have an American setting and (b) I wanted totally different characters."[2]

Critical reception

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Martin Levin in The New York Times noted: "There are far more snakes than pigeons in Sumner Locke Elliott's SOME DOVES AND PYTHONS. Which is only natural, since the case of Mr. Elliott's taut tour de force consists of a theatrical talent agent and some of her clients, gathered for a country weekend of fun and Big Deals".[3]

In The Age Neil Jillett commented: "The merits of the new novel are those of a cynical and accurate reporter rather than of an imaginative artist. Mr. Elliott has a fastidious eyes for lapses of dress, amnners and interior decoration, a discerning ear for the nuances of drunken conversation and a talent for acid analysis. There is some tentaive effort to explore, though minor characters, the general theme of alienation, but the novel remains sunstantially the portrait of one woman. And as such it deserves the applause it is bound to receive."[4]

Notes

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  • Dedication: For Annie Laurie, Maurice and Lucile and others who protect and promote

References

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  1. ^ "Some Doves and Pythons by Sumner Locke Elliott". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  2. ^ "PS: WE HEAR YOU Sumner Locke Elliott: An interview in New York", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 27 December 1983, nla.obj-1605128490, retrieved 7 October 2024 – via Trove
  3. ^ ""Reader's Teport"". The New York Times, 27 february 1966. ProQuest 117085899. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
  4. ^ ""Portrait of a lady"". The Age, 12 November 1966, p24. ProQuest 2520667947. Retrieved 16 September 2024.