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            Unlevel Crossings

                  by Michael O'Leary

A work of  'surrealism Maori'. Patrick Mika Fitzgerald, of Te Arawa, German and Irish descent, embarks on a physical and psychological train journey from Auckland to Dunedin . Along the way Fitzgerald picks up clues to elements of a mysterious 1930s relationship between the SS, the IRA and his Te Arawa mother (which in turn is entwined with a Nazi reading of Edward Tregear's 1885 book, The Aryan Maori.) O'Leary's rhythmic prose, wordplay and multilingual punning fuel the novel's sense of the ludic. Political and literary satiric jabs add feisty humour to the book's exploration of the relationships between people; between New Zealand and elsewhere. The tissue of 'Unlevel Crossings' spans space and time to connect the here and now to Continental philosophical and theological discourse.

 Reviews

'This gets my vote as the most original New Zealand novel of the year.'  
Iain Sharp, Reviewer, Sunday Star Times 18/08/02

'Michael O'Leary ... has a poet's love of the sounds of words...'  
 Gavin McLean, reviewer, Otago Daily Times 17/08/02

'O'Leary can pull out the most heartfelt prose, particularly when describing the natural beauty of this land.'  
 Michael Larson, reviewer, New Zealand Herald 20/08/02

'Unlevel Crossings is a Joycean language experience and partly it's a literary and political satire, but I thinks it's also a down-to-earth book about recent changes in New Zealand society.'   
Iain Sharp, Sunday Star Times feature article 16/06/02

'A wonderful pageant...'
'The book is rich with Maori poetry, Maori vocabulary, and not ostentatious...'
'The book is totally natural ... and astonishing textured language ...'
'... a very rewarding book indeed ...'
'... Michael O'Leary is a very distinctive and very singular writer and person in New Zeala nd ...'
'... it's a lovely magic exploration on all sorts of levels ...'
- David Hill, reviewer, Radio New Zealand 31/07/02

‘It is a splendidly droll novel, memorably comic in its unlevel absurdities, its crossover jesting.’ 
David Eggleton, in JAAM 19, 2003.

Biographical

O’LEARY, Michael (1950– ), publisher, poet, novelist, performer and bookshop proprietor, has made a colourful contribution to the literary scene in three cities.

Born in Auckland, he was educated at the universities of Auckland and Otago, and now lives in Wellington. Under his Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop imprint he has published his own prolific output as well as various other writers, both alternative and mainstream.

His works include Surrogate Children (poems, 1981), Ten Sonnets (1985), Straight (novel, 1985), Out of It (satirical novel, 1987), Before and After (1987), Livin’ ina Aucklan’ (1988) and The Irish Annals of New Zealand (1991).

He has also written commissioned histories of two Auckland cemeteries, and edited Wrapper (1992), a collection of poems by both new and established poets. His work has appeared in *Pilgrims, Te *Ao Marama and elsewhere.

O’Leary’s poetry and novels explore his Maori (Te Arawa)–Irish Catholic heritage, the poetry more conventionally, the prose in an alternative vein which owes something to Joyce and Beckett .

JH