What Next You Bastard

Description:

Ken Hall is the quintessence of the ordinary Aussie bloke. But there is nothing ordinary about his courage, strength and determination. This is a moving story, but not a tragic one. It reads like a rollicking yarn full of larrikin gusto, occasionally angry, mostly very funny and without a trace of self-pity. One Hell of a good yarn 'One hell of a good yarn.' Sunday Herald Sun 'A distinctly Australian voice.' Canberra Times 'What Next You Bastard may well prove to have more layers of appeal than a mille feuille . . . a narrative packed with incident, villains and comedy. There's nothing of the victim in Hall. His mother was feisty and so is her son. A keen appreciation of the comic, everywhere evident in the story, with a capacity for lateral thinking that enabled him not only to hide his disability but to wreak a poetic revenge on some of his persecutors, keeps him dancing through the narrative. His is certainly a story that needed to be told . . . His collaborator McFerran has demonstrated just the right kind of literacy to tell the tale.' Mary Rose Liverani, The Australian

subjects: sickness,  many years spent in hospital,  droving,  horse breaking,  national service

People: Ken Hall

Places: Brisbane,  Kynuna,  Julie Creek,  Winton,  Stradbroke Island.

Times: 1953 and on to 1965