“There’s Pano; comfortably beached tenant in the bland artifice of Pemulway, a Legoland gyp-shot at middle class suburban dreaming. The house he shares with his landlord, Kane, a semi-permanent pit stop for an aspiring writer. But, it’s not all waiting for Pano. There’s the local campaign against the building of a mosque across the street, which Kane has drummed up, fearful of its driving property values (especially his own) down. A casual Toy Boy for Kane’s pleasure when the mood takes; Pano’s got that base covered, too…And, there’s that dodgy looking meth that Kane has acquired, which mandates the gathering of human guinea pigs under the pretext of an afternoon orgy to test its effects...If that’s not enough, Pano’s been corralled into writing the biography of his old school pal Basil, now an immodest property developer of questionable ethics. In between these varied pursuits, Pano has to find time to look out for his aging mother, who’s brain, in Pano’s words, has become a beanbag.

The Pillars is Peter Polites in cracking form. Familiar themes from his debut novel, Down The Hume – the perspective of a young, gay man of Greek descent in Western Sydney, have been given a broader canvas and mixed with the hotly topical issue of fast-buck, shoddy building standards and their possible disastrous consequences…Family dynamics, cultural perceptions, prejudices and moral relativism colour the story, as does Polites’ personal strain of dark humour. But, what gives this great mew Australian novel its greatest life force is its author’s intimate knowledge of Western Sydney and its inhabitants and the artfulness with which he chisels them into the page…” - James

  “An extraordinary craftsman, Polites describes a slice of life in the Western suburbs of Sydney, to perfection. Similar to Down the Hume, Polites is not holding back. With domestic violence, mental illness, homophobia and racial tensions rubbing shoulders, he offers us a melting-pot neighbourhood which is now under construction; where Kane, a self-assured guy who is financially clawing his way up and out, a baby-brained new mummy who once worked in PR and is determined to prove herself again, a misunderstood family man of Muslim faith and a first generation Greek boy raised by a single mum rally together against a mosque that is being built in their suburb. The commentary on property development in Sydney is on-point. Polites knows how to depict people and he knows what drives life out West.

I can’t praise this book enough. Polites make a huge contribution to the Australian literary scene.” - Dean