{{Short description|Novel by Helen Garner}} {{About|the book|the band|Cosmo Cosmolino (band)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=February 2015}} {{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books --> | name = Cosmo Cosmolino | title_orig = | translator = | image = Cosmo Cosmolino.jpg | caption = First edition | author = Helen Garner | cover_artist = | country = Australia | language = English | series = | genre = | publisher = McPhee Gribble | release_date = 1992 | media_type = Print | pages = 221 | isbn = 0747513449 | dewey = | congress = | oclc = | preceded_by = Postcards from Surfers {{noitalic|(1985)}} | followed_by = The First Stone {{noitalic|(1994)}} }}
'''''Cosmo Cosmolino''''' is a 1992 book by Australian writer Helen Garner.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21006929?q=Cosmo+Cosmolino&c=book&sort=holdings+desc&_=1419249527697&versionId=44749868 | title = NLA Trove – Cosmo Cosmolino – Helen Garner| last= | first = | date = | website = | publisher = National Library of Australia | accessdate = 22 December 2014}}</ref> The book consists of three linked works: two short stories and a novella, though the author and critics have described it as a novel.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/rewind-to-ms-garners-angels-20120419-1x87r.html|title=Rewind to Ms Garner's angels: Spiritual belief and Melbourne trams provide rich motifs in the author's 1992 novel|last=Ramona Koval|author-link=Ramona Koval|date=21 April 2012|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|accessdate=27 September 2013}}</ref>
It was first published in Australia by McPhee Gribble<ref>{{cite book|last=Arnold|first=John|title=The Bibliography of Australian Literature|editor=John Arnold |editor2=John A. Hay |editor3=Sally Batten|publisher=University of Queensland Press|date=1 February 2005|volume=2|isbn=978-0-7022-3500-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yBpVHywjoVUC&q=%22Cosmo+Cosmolino%22+%22McPhee+Gribble%22&pg=PA130|accessdate=22 January 2012}}</ref> and was shortlisted for the 1993 Miles Franklin Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/569712?c=people|title=Garner, Helen (1942–)|publisher=National Library of Australia|accessdate=22 January 2012}}</ref> It has been reported that the novel's title is Garner's favourite, and came to her in a dream.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/10/1073437508345.html|title=Title fight|first=Caroline|last=Baum|author-link=Caroline Baum|date=10 January 2004|work=The Age|publisher=Fairfax Media|accessdate=22 January 2012}}</ref>
==Short stories== In the first short story "Recording Angel", a woman goes to a hospital to see a gravely ill friend.<ref name="The Independent - 10 January 1993 - Book Review - Cosmo Cosmolino">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/book-review--new-age-in-the-land-of-oz-cosmo-cosmolino--helen-garner-bloomsbury-1399-1477765.html|title=BOOK REVIEW / New Age in the land of Oz: 'Cosmo Cosmolino' - Helen Garner: Bloomsbury, 13.99|last=Duguid|first=Lindsay|date=10 January 1993|work=The Independent|accessdate=9 September 2015}}</ref> In the second short story "A Vigil", a man is forced to see the cremation of his girlfriend who committed suicide.<ref name="The Independent - 10 January 1993 - Book Review - Cosmo Cosmolino"/>
==Novella== In the novella that gives the name to the book, freelance writer Janet owns a terrace house in Melbourne. The house was previously inhabited by a communal household.<ref name="London Review of Books - 28 January 1993 - At Sweetpea Mansions">{{cite news|url=http://www.lrb.co.uk/v15/n02/ck-stead/at-sweetpea-mansions|title=At Sweetpea Mansions|last=C. K. Stead|author-link=C. K. Stead|date=28 January 1993|work=London Review of Books|accessdate=16 September 2015}}</ref>
==Critical reception== The novel was critically well received.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/malouf-presses-for-novel-reprints/story-e6frg6nf-1111112672284|title=Malouf presses for novel reprints|last=Neill|first=Rosemary|date=12 December 2006|work=The Australian|publisher=News Limited|accessdate=22 January 2012}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/consider-helen-garner-cosmo-cosmolino/ Consider This: Helen Garner’s Cosmo Cosmolino] - plot summary and review by Tegan Bennett Daylight in the Sydney Review of Books, 13 May 2016 * [http://blogs.smh.com.au/entertainment/archives/undercover/017077.html Garnering sales] from ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' blog
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cosmo Cosmolino}} Category:Novels by Helen Garner Category:1992 Australian novels Category:Novels set in Melbourne