 First edition | |
| Author | J. M. Coetzee |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Text Publishing |
Publication date | 3 September 2007 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 304pp |
| ISBN | 1-921145-63-3 |
| OCLC | 174094405 |
Diary of a Bad Year is a book by South African-born Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee. It was released by Text Publishing in Australia on 3 September 2007, in the United Kingdom by Harvill Secker (an imprint of Random House) on 6 September, and in the United States on 27 December.
The protagonist, called Señor C. by the other characters, is an ageing South African writer living in Sydney, Australia. The novel consists of his essays and musings alongside diary entries by both Señor C. and Anya, a neighbour whom he has hired as a typist. The essays, which take up the larger part of each page, are on wide-ranging topics, including the politics of George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Guantánamo Bay, and terrorism. The diary entries appear beneath the essays and describe the relationship that develops between the two characters, a relationship that ultimately leads to subtle evolutions in both their worldviews.
Upon release, Diary of a Bad Year was generally well-received. [2] On Bookmarks Magazine Mar/Apr 2008 issue, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 
(3.5 out of 5) based on critic reviews with a critical summary saying, "Critics disagreed over whether reading each of the three narratives separately or reading a whole page at a time was the most rewarding method, but they generally concurred that, no matter how the novel is read, Diary of a Bad Year is a treat". [3]
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