Collection of Wonder: Spit Nolan

by Bill Naughton

Creative Education's short story collections are ideal introductions to some of the world's best-known authors. the short, timeless classics of Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, Ray Bradbury, and others are celebrated in these handsome volumes.

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1987

About the author

William John Francis Naughton (1910-1992) was a popular ‘working class’ author and playwright who was born in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, Ireland in June 1910 and died in early January 1992 in Ballasalla, Isle of Man. He was four years old when his family moved to Bolton, Lancashire, where, after leaving school around 1924, he worked as a weaver, coal-bagger and lorry-driver, enjoying a variety of experience and knowledge before starting to write with a rare honesty and perception about ‘ordinary’ people. Although ‘Alfie’ is the play with which he will always be associated, mostly because of the film starring Michael Caine, he was a prolific writer of quality work which included such notable plays as ‘My Flesh My Blood’, ‘All In Good Time’; plus novels, short stories and children’s books. Two other plays were made into films –‘Spring and Port Wine’, with James Mason as Rafe Crompton, and ‘The Family Way’, which starred John Mills. His work also included ‘One Small Boy’, ‘A Roof Over Your Head’, and short story collections such as ‘Late Night on Watling Street’ ‘The Bees Have Stopped Working’, and ‘The Goalkeeper's Revenge’. Among his most popular autobiographical works, well worth seeking out, are ‘On The Pig’s Back’ and ‘Saintly Billy’.

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this story for the first time when i was 7 (?) and the ending haunted me for a while. it’s one of those childhood memories that sticks with you for a while, and as you grow older you can’t tell if it was real or a dream.
it’s been on my mind off and on for a couple years but i only remembered a few plot points - not enough to come up with a title. after some intense googling and mjnd digging i found it!! a very quick read but places me right back into the moment i first read it.

[Jonathan Imre · Rating 2 out of 5]

average book.. Read it last year with Mr Watkinson, class enjoyed it but i thought it was meh..

[Lucas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this book in school this year. I am not a fan of short stories, so that may be why is disliked this book so much. The main reason I didn't enjoy Spit Nolan was that it felt very dragged out. Even though this text was very short and only around 6 pages, I felt like the text could have easily been under a page long and still include just as much information. that is why I rate this book one star.

[Callie]

ive been trying to find this book for 20+ years! Read it in primary school and it's always stayed with me- but nobody else seemed to remember it so i thought i was having a fever dream 😂 so glad i found it

[Grahame Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not and never have been a fan of short stories......I feel 'robbed' of the chance to become fully immersed in the world of the characters and journey with them on their adventures. However I read Spit Nolan at school - it captivated me at the time and, many years later, it still has an irreplaceable spot in my heart. It seems to be a text book example in how to write a short story. But - given my basic dislike of the genre - instead it both moves me and caters to the lad in me as I recall the days from my own childhood with 'bogeys/bogies' (!) - the north eastern name for trolleys - and the sheer innocence and joy of those times when play was your life.