1
of
1
A Bone of Fact
Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.
Check link for latest rating. ( 286 ratings, 49 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still
learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Summary
Read More
Format: Hardback
$6000
Unit price
/
Unavailable
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
A Bone of Fact
$6000
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This memoir will appeal to readers interested in biography, contemporary art, and tales of personal success. It suits those curious about unusual life stories and the mindset of a provocative and innovative entrepreneur.
Latest News
Romance for Spring - Groundbreaking!
Lizzy is sharing her top picks for Spring reads in the romance and romantasy genre...
The βFourth Wingβ graphic novel covers have been revealed
The covers for βFourth Wing, The Graphic Novel: Volume Oneβ have officially been revealed, with...
Books about Bookshops (across almost every genre)
Books about books, bookshops, and booksellers - it's my favourite thing. Here's a small selection...
What the Book Hero team is excited for
With so many pre-orders coming in the last few months of the year, we asked...
Meet Reverie Puzzles: Puzzles Made for Book Lovers
Reverie Puzzles have arrived at Book Hero and they might just be the perfect puzzles...
See moreMONA's David Walsh is an enigma in the Australian art world. A Bone of Fact is his unconventional, absorbing and brilliantly surprising memoir.
MONA's David Walsh is an enigma in the Australian art world. A Bone of Fact is his unconventional, absorbing and brilliantly surprising memoir.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
David Walsh, the creator of Mona in Hobart, is both a giant and an enigma in the Australian art world. A multi-millionaire who made his money gambling, David has turned a wild vision into a unique reality; he is in turns controversial, mysterious, and idolised.
A Bone of Fact is his utterly unconventional and absorbing memoir, about which he says: 'By some great good fortune (mine, not yours) you hold in your hands my story, credible I think, but not extraordinary (despite what those avaricious publishers might have you believe). I have captured your attention: maybe you have some resonance with Mona, or maybe good graphical design partly seized your day. To extract 55 bucks from you I need to say something clever, but I can't think of anything. So I'll seduce you with a tale of another, cleverer, writer. Stanislaw Lem, noted Polish science fiction author and notorious smartarse, once told an American colleague that his new collection of short stories would be published in a paper bag. This conjured a mental picture of the stories being selected by lucky dip. The idea that my life story could be told that way, without a disabling manifesto, is appealing.
Unfortunately, Mr Lem had actually said 'paperback' (his meaning concealed beneath his thick accent), a wholly ordinary practice to deliver extraordinary stories. My story lacks Mr Lem's magical reality and philosophy, and it also lacks a paper bag. You should buy it anyway, if you are at least mildly curious as to why I want you to give me more money, even though I'm already rich. But if you happen to read Polish you could probably do better reading Lem. Incidentally, Polish is one of the few words that changes its pronunciation when you change the first letter from upper case to lower case. If you are in Natal or Nice you can probably think of another. But surely, if you are in Natal or Nice you have better things to do than lurk in bookshops. Get out of here, but take me with you. I promise to treat you nice. But not so nice that you'll need to go to a natal clinic.'
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781742612911
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 01 October 2014
Country: Australia
Imprint: Picador Australia
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 40.0mm
Width: 175.0mm
Height: 238.0mm
Weight: 1262g
Pages: 384
Collections
About the Author
David Walsh is a mathematician, gambler and gallery owner from Hobart.
Also by David Walsh
View all-
The Russian Affair
LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 2020 'Reads like a thriller, or even a spy novel...Walsh keeps you gripped' - Rosamund Urwin, Sunday Times 'A turbulent but ultimately inspiring tale. The candour...is rare and gripping' - Matt Dickinson, The Times It was the story that shocked the world: Russian athletics was revealed to be corrupt...Paperback$2899Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Person Means Relation
In Person Means Relation, David Walsh offers a moving reflection on personhood, beginning from the connection between person and relation established in the Trinitarian theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Although Thomas did not apply this insight to persons more generally, Walsh argues, there is enough to suggest the path he might have taken. To know persons, we can now see,...Paperback$3099Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Seven Deadly Sins
When Lance Armstrong fought back from life-threatening cancer to win the 1999 Tour de Franceβthe so-called 'Tour of Renewal'βit seemed almost too good to be true. It was. Sunday Times journalist David Walsh was one of a small group who was prepared to raise awkward questions about Armstrong's seemingly superhuman feats. And so began a 13-year battle to reveal the...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Social Murder?
Life expectancy is about more than just health; it's about the kind of society we live in. In the early 2010s, after decades of continual improvement, life expectancy in the UK, USA, and many other rich countries stopped increasing. For millions of people, it actually declined. Despite hundreds of thousands of extra deaths, governments and officials remained silent. Combining robust...Paperback$4799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
The Escape
Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025 A Sunday Times Best Book of 2025 A Guardian Best Sports Book 2025 A unique memoir from British cyclingβs most fascinating competitor. In the summer of 2020, sportswriter David Walsh invited Pippa York to begin a series of journeys following the Tour de France. A nostalgic voyage through...Hardback$4999Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 4-6 weeks -
Pre-orderThe Escape
Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2025 A Sunday Times Best Book of 2025 A Guardian Best Sports Book 2025 A unique memoir from British cyclingβs most fascinating competitor. In the summer of 2020, sportswriter David Walsh invited Pippa York to begin a series of journeys following the Tour de France. A nostalgic voyage through...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableOut 30 Oct 2026Pre-order
More from Biography & Memoir
View all-
This Angry Pen of Mine
This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...Hardback$7299Elsewhere:$8999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Famesick
Chronicling the tumultuous decade between the premiere of Girls to her 2021 shotgunΒ wedding (minus the baby, because she has no uterus), Lena Dunham takes us through herΒ journey with her trademark mix of humor, unsparing honesty, and keen eye for detail. We peek behind the scenes - of her work, her family, her relationships, and her battle to reclaim her body...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Pre-orderSwan Song
Beautiful. Beloved. Hunted. The extraordinary life and death of Diana, as told by her brother, Charles β available to pre-order now. βWhen asked, βWhat was it like, growing up with Diana?β, my first thought is always, But I donβt know what it was like not to grow up with herβ¦β In September 1997, Charles Spencer stood in Westminster Abbey before...Hardback$5499Elsewhere:$6500Unit price /UnavailableOut 23 Sep 2026Pre-order -
Dogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About
From the social media superstar behind @SimonSits, Isabel Klee--known for her heartwarming tales of dog rescue--comes an utterly winning memoir about a twentysomething woman's search for true love in New York City and the dogs who helped her find it. A Jersey girl by birth, Isabel Klee had always wanted to live in New York City. At age 20, she...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Signed CopyStakes
Read our interview with author Noelle McCarthy! A darkly funny, sparkling follow-up to the authorβs bestselling memoirΒ Grand. You have to invite him in. You have to want the vampireβs badness in the house with you. Growing up in Catholic Ireland, Noelle McCarthy is captivated by Bram StokerβsΒ Dracula. The vampire is a risk-free fantasy, a suave alternative to the fraught realities...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseBuilt for This
Raised among strong women, butcher's benches, and hard ideas about what men are meant to be, Brad Poulter grows up knowing he's different long before he has the words for it. But in late '90s small-town New Zealand, 'different' isn't discussed, it's managed. Joining the Royal New Zealand Navy offers escape, certainty, and belonging. The rules are clear, the uniform...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Even the Good Girls Will Cry
Thanks to a thrown beer bottle and a fan letter to a P.O. box, Melissa Auf der Maur's first band scored an opening slot for the Smashing Pumpkins in her bohemian home town, Montreal. Sensing Melissa's talent, Billy Corgan recommended her to Courtney Love. Whisked from her local scene, Melissa joined Hole just after the deaths of Kurt Cobain and...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseAn Ocean and a Day
An utterly riveting, moving and poignant memoir of grief and loss that will speak to anyone who's ever lost someone they love. An Ocean and a Day is Hannah Richell's personal account of losing her husband, Matt, in a surfing accident on Tamarama beach in 2014. It is the story of the grief journey she travelled over the first two...Paperback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseA Place to Stand
A Place to Stand by Clare Ward is a profound memoir that delves into the life of a country doctor living and working in the Hokianga Harbour area in the far north of Aotearoa New Zealand. This region is sparsely populated and poses numerous health challenges. This thoughtful account details Clareβs thirty-year career, highlighting the people she works with and...Hardback$3199Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
New ReleaseRule of Lies
Written with all the pace and energy of a John Grisham novel β¦ An incredible true story and a great read! BILL BROWDER, author of Red Notice and Freezing Order An American lawyerβs brilliant, propulsive story of witnessing and playing a part in the transformation of Russia under Yeltsin and Putin. A true tale of fascinating personalities, criminal intrigue, harrowing...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Rory
TheΒ New York TimesΒ bestseller The #1Β Irish TimesΒ bestseller The definitive biography of Rory McIlroy, the most important, popular and confounding player of the post-Tiger era. Rory McIlroy contains multitudes. The child of a working-class family from a small town in a war-torn homeland now commutes to work in his own private jet and counts billionaires as confidants. He can overwhelm a golf...Paperback$3699Elsewhere:$4199Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Te Kaikaukau | The Swimmer
Novelist, memoirist and playwright Witi Ihimaera β author of Pounamu, Pounamu and The Whale Rider β decided, at the age of eighty, to dive back into the water and spend a year full-time at Te WΔnanga Takiura, immersing himself in his own language, in te reo MΔori. This book tells the story of this kaikaukau, this swimmer, and his year...Paperback$3500Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
