50 Ways of Saying Fabulous Book 1 20th Anniversary Edition

175 Pages·2015·3.85 MB·English

by  Aitken

Praise for 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous
‘I loved this funny sad tale of growing up a sissy in New Zealand. Graeme
Aitken proves that even the most extraordinary events can occur to wonderfully
ordinary people. If I knew fifty ways of saying fabulous, I’d use them all to
praise this charming first novel.’ EDMUND WHITE

‘It has the fast-running clarity of a good yarn, yet this is a fresh telling of the
story of a gay awakening. Infinitely real … grotesque and funny and moving by
turns.’ PETER WELLS

‘An entertainment, a gentle, poignant story of a fat boy who fantasises
romance and glamour without yet having a name for what he is … Aitken writes
with a distinctive voice, one that is wonderfully evocative.’ DENNIS ALTMAN,
THE AGE

‘A wonderful cast of characters, lovingly drawn and lightened with the right
dash of maliciousness … Aitken manages to make something extraordinary out
of the ordinary … (and) shows so much skill and gives so much
pleasure.’ CAMPAIGN

‘50 Ways of Saying Fabulous is an honest, funny and sometimes painful read.
Confidently and convincingly written, it is a welcome addition to the gay
coming of age genre; the collection of works in which we see ourselves reflected
and refracted, and find fifty ways of saying “me”.’ MELBOURNE STAR
OBSERVER

‘Its humour will guarantee you stares as you snicker on the train. Aitken
understands the hopelessly daggy and uncool nature of the 12-year-old and he
reproduces it as if it were yesterday. Popularity and acceptance take a lot of time
and pain to procure. I think he’ll be guaranteed it with this book.’ NEIL
DRINNAN, OUTRAGE

‘… an important work … What Aitken has demonstrated fabulously is his
skill in the art of telling a good story … his honesty and fearlessness in
confronting those squirmy adolescent secrets is to be admired.’ CANBERRA
TIMES

‘… one of the very best novels released this year. Witty, warm and
original.’ CLEO

‘… a secret and magic story which is grotesque and infinitely funny … a zany
book, highly entertaining, and with enough twists and turns to keep you glued to
the end … 50 Ways is fabulous, whichever way you say it.’ BARFLY

‘Touching and sad, 50 Ways of Saying Fabulous also has some very funny
moments.’ THE TIMES

‘A sort of gay Adrian Mole … There are laughs aplenty but also moments of
agony … Told with bare-faced honesty, it is a warm, cruel, funny tale.’ THE
SUNDAY AGE

‘A funny but also achingly sad first novel.’ THE OBSERVER
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous Book 1
20th Anniversary Edition
Graeme Aitken
20Ten Books
Sydney
This edition published in 2015 by 20Ten Books, Sydney, Australia.
This book was first published by Random House Australia in 1995, reprinted 2000 and 2005.
Copyright © Graeme Aitken 1995
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. The novel’s characters, incidents and dialogue are the product of the author’s
imagination and are entirely fictional.

Aitken, Graeme, 1963–.
50 ways of saying fabulous book 1.
ISBN 9780987329363
Cover photograph by Craig Wright
To my parents,
Tom and Sue Aitken,
who were nothing like the characters in this novel
Contents
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
50 Ways of Saying Fabulous: From Manuscript to Movie
Images from the film adaptation
Download Book One of 'The Indignities' ebook series FOR FREE!
About the Author
Many people helped me bring this book to publication and I am extremely
grateful for their support, advice and expertise.

Thank you to Craig Stevens, Dean Baxter, Rosanna Arciuli, Keith Buss,
Laurin McKinnon, Gary Dunne, Jane Palfreyman, Julia Stiles, Rois McCann,
Andrew Freeman, Geraldine Cooke, Paul Bailey, Olivier Colette, Mitchell
Waters, Peter Wells, Stewart Main, Michele Fantl, Andrew Moors, and Kate
Evans.

Thanks also to my design team:
Cover Design – Ricafeli Design
Original Photograph – Craig Wright
Author’s Note about the setting:
This novel is set in Central Otago, New Zealand, an area where I grew up and
know very well. However, when this novel was first published, I decided in
consultation with my Australian editor to fictionalise some of the place names.
This was done out of respect to friends and family who still lived in this district
and to lessen the impact of people reading the novel and concluding that the
mother character Reebie was based on my mother etc.
So for those readers who know this region and perhaps found this curious, I
just wanted to explain why some place names are made up, while others
(Dunedin, Palmerston etc) are not.
The fictionalised setting names are as follows:
Mawera – the farming community where Billy’s family lives Crayburn – a
small village with a shop and a pub, located some 15 miles from Mawera
Glenora – the major town in the district, located some 30 miles from Mawera
Serpentine county – the district which encompasses all of these locations