- Brilliant, daring, and demonstrating a jaw-dropping versatility of voice and point of view, The Boat is an extraordinary work of fiction that takes us to the heart of what it means to be human, and announces a writer of astonishing gifts.

'A fearless new Australian voice that accepts no geographical limits- these are stories of leaping power and the most breath-taking grace and intimacy.' Helen Garner
'Wonderful stories that snarl and pant across our crazed world . . . an extraordinary performance. Nam Le is a heartbreaker, not easily forgotten.' Junot Diaz
The Boat takes us from a tourist in Tehran to a teenage hit man in Colombia; from an aging New York artist to a boy coming of age in a small Victorian fishing town; from the city of Hiroshima just before the bomb is dropped to the haunting waste of the South China Sea in the wake of another war. Each story uncovers a raw human truth. Each story is absorbing and fully realised as a novel. Together, they make up a collection of astonishing diversity and achievement.
Winner 2009 Australian Book Industry Awards for Newcomer of the Year Winner 2009 SMH Young Novelist Prize for Writing for Young Adults Winner 2009 Melbourne Prize for Literature for Best Writing Award Winner 2009 QLD Premier's Literary Award for Australian Short Story Collection Winner 2009 NSW Premier's Awards for New Writing and Book of the Year Winner 2009 Dylan Thomas Prize for Fiction Winner 2009 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction Winner 2010 Kathleen Mitchell Award Prize for Writing for Young Adults