Forty yarns and a song

by Barry Crump

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1869581261
• ISBN13: 9781869581268
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Moa Beckett
• Length: 231 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Excellent, series of small mostly autobiographical yarns

For those that know New Zealand, you have probably heard of Barry Crump. He is the eponymous bushman of this country, and luckily an author who recorded it for posterity in both fiction and non-fiction. His first book, a good keen man, written about Deer cullers and published in the 1960's was an instant best seller and hasn't been out of print since then. In this book, Crump talks about a lot of his experiences over the years and you can see how the stories he wrote were shaped. These include his time shooting Salt-water crocodiles in Australia, how he got his first book published, and shooting an elephant in the main street of Wellington. Humour is never far away from any of them, but they don't rely solely on humour. Crumps writing is deep and well crafted. He has the ability to draw the audience into his world and manipulate the emotions, and to alter the perspective of the story to allow other sides to be seen and understood. I especially liked the story of how Crump had his first book published. In the 1960's there were only three publishers in New Zealand, and he tried and was rejected by two of them. His third try was marginally successful and he was told to go to Wellington to work with a journalist who would help him 'knock' the manuscript into shape. So the story involves then month long car ride to get the 400 odd miles from Auckland to Wellington in the 1960's - and including several layovers, tows and working stints to pay for repairs. These stories would be a great addition to anyone wanting to add to their Barry Crump library, but it is also a nice book for anyone wanting to read some classic New Zealand literature, and to learn more about the country. Off-beat, off the track and good fun.