The book lovers of Australia have spoken.

In a great show of literary democracy, Trent Dalton's Boy Swallows Universe has placed first in Radio National's Top 100 Books of the 21st century.

"I love you Australia," Dalton told ABC Radio National upon hearing the news.

"It feels beautiful. I'm sitting here with my wife and two daughters, and we have been listening to this whole thing [the countdown] all weekend."

Boy Swallows Universe is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel set in Brisbane, Queensland, in the 1980s.

It follows Eli Bell, a traumatised teenager with an absent father, a mute brother, his imprisoned mother Frankie Bell, and a heroin dealer for a stepfather.

It has been adapted into a TV series and play.

Dalton spoke movingly on air about his mother as he processed

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