Sweeney and the Bicycles
Reviewed By Ian Banks January 8, 2023
Author Philip Salom
Distributor: Transit Lounge
ISBN: 978-1-925760-99-6
Publisher: Transit Lounge
Release Date: November 2022
Website: https://transitlounge.com.au
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Once again Philip Salom has created the anti-hero in Sweeney, a young man with issues, some due to childhood abuse and neglect, others due to a severe beating he took while in prison. He has a passion for bicycles first commenced when he was given a bicycle by his father when he was a child, only to have it taken away again.
He simply cannot help himself when he sees what he considers as the perfect bike to add to his collection; no matter he does not own the machine!
We meet Sweeny admiring a beautiful bike in a downstairs foyer. He ‘acquires’ the bike, placing the helmet on his head and riding off down the road. A very slick operation. He is caught on security camera but that does not help the owner of the bike get it back. She also is a patient with the same psychotherapist, which as the story unfolds creates yet another dimension to Sweeney’s life story.
But there is far more to Sweeney than even his psychotherapist is aware of, as he almost leads a duel life; that of a resident in a government provided complex and that of a property owner in a somewhat upmarket area of inner city Melbourne; a house he inherited from his grandmother. He has a degree and enjoys growing vegetables which he gives to the local homeless shelter. They think he has stolen them, but accept them anyway. No questions asked.
Asha Zen, his psychotherapist, is intrigued if somewhat frustrated with him. Her husband is a leader in face recognition technology and while Sweeney does his best to disguise himself when in the process of stealing bikes by painting his face, he is almost about to be caught.
As the pages turn Sweeney, despite so many issues, is slowly beginning to form his own ‘family ’of somewhat different people. There is The Sheriff, a former standover man, who takes him under his wing, Rose and her sister, identical sisters who do not want to be like each other and a cast of fringe dwellers that make up the wider ‘family’.
Salom’s distinctive style of communication in simple spare phrases describe the moment perfectly, leaving much to the imagination but filling all the emotions that go with a dysfunctional man, in a system not really designed to cope with complex issues.
Throughout Sweeney and the Bicycles there is a thread of sorrow, of things left unspoken, but a somewhat wry sense of humour and a sense of the ridiculous that adds a levity to the situation, which is priceless.
Salom’s all-seeing poets eye has once again captured a small slice of life and emotion, making it rich in the telling.