The Wort Papers

by peter-mathers

paperback, in very good condition, hardly used, child inscription in ink, this copy published in the year 1974

288 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Difficult can be good. Enormous fun. A uniquely Australian book about mid-20th century rural life and big business. Full of politics and satire and comic, romping scenarios and literary fireworks. This is one of the funniest novels written, anywhere; inventive, clever, witty, ribald, experimental .... it has many strengths but I recall talking to the author in 1997 and he indicated he wanted to re-edit it; he told me the book was produced in a hurry amid a corporate sell-out, and has never received adequate attention in editing. It was originally published in 1972, and I re-edited it, along with all his short stories, before the author's death in 2003; but both have since sat on my desk, waiting for any interest to come along. The family chose to establish a scholarship for satirical writing after the author's death, and did not want to get involved in republishing. Mathers' first novel, Trap, is available through Sydney University Press. Trap won the Miles Franklin Award for Australian literature in 1967.

[Misha Wilkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Jan Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked a book at random from a bookcase that was not mine. It was something else. I didn't get most of the jokes, didn't get most of what I thought were jokes? Some of the adventures were nice but it never lasted more than a few pages.