Dreamboat Dad

by Alan Duff

Yank is an ordinary enough teenager, except that he lives in a thermal wonderland (frequented by tourists eager to view the geysers and boiling mud) and except for the fact that one of those tourists (an American soldier visiting during the Second World War) was his father. The locals gave the boy the nickname of Yank, a name that makes him different and ensures his mother's husband will never accept him as his own. So who was Yank's real father? Yank has only his dreams to fill the void, until the day a letter arrives . . .

A compelling novel with an unexpected revelation that throws a powerful punch.

Genres: Indigenous

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Alan Duff (born October 26, 1950, Rotorua, New Zealand) is a New Zealand novelist and newspaper columnist, most well known as the author of Once Were Warriors. He began to write full-time in 1985.

He tried writing a thriller as his first novel, but it was rejected. He burned the manuscript and started writing Once Were Warriors, which had an immediate and great impact. The novel is written in juxtaposed interior monologues, making its style stand out from other works. It was winner of the PEN Best First Book Award, was runner-up in the Goodman Fielder Wattie Award, and was made into the award-winning film of the same name in 1994.

Another of his novels, One Night Out Stealing, appeared in 1991 and shortlisted in the 1992 Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards.

He was also awarded the Frank Sargeson Fellowship in 1991, and began writing a weekly -- later bi-weekly — column for the Evening Post (Wellington newspaper), syndicated to eight other newspapers. In this, and in his 1993 analysis, Māori: The Crisis and the Challenge, he has developed his ideas on the failures of Māoridom, castigating both the traditional leadership and the radical movement for dwelling on the injustices of the past and expecting others to resolve them, instead of encouraging Māori to get on and help themselves. The blame for Māori underperformance he puts squarely back on Māori, for not making the most of the opportunities given them. This somewhat simplistic message has proved highly controversial.

State Ward started as a series of episodes on radio in 1993 and was published as a novella in 1994.

The Books in Homes scheme, co-founded in 1995 by Duff and Christine Fernyhough, with commercial sponsorship and government support, aims to alleviate poverty and illiteracy by providing low-cost books to underprivileged children, thus encouraging them to read. In its first year alone it put about 180,000 new books in the hands of about 38,000 children. By 2008, the scheme delivered 5 million books to schools around New Zealand.

What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1996), the sequel to Once Were Warriors, was the winner of the fiction section of the 1997 Montana Book Awards and was also made in to a film in 1999. Two Sides of the Moon was published in 1998. Duff wrote his own memoir, Out of the Mist and the Steam, in 1999. His first novel to be set outside of New Zealand is Szabad (2001). Inspired by the stories of people Duff met during his several trips to Hungary, the story takes place in Budapest during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. Jake's Long Shadow (2002) is the third volume in Duff's Once Were Warriors trilogy. In 2003 Once Were Warriors was brought to the stage across New Zealand as a musical drama.

Reviews

[Caitlyn Moller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Dreamboat Dad by Alan Duff a lot, it helps you to understand how cruel and low people could treat each other. What I think was important in this book was Mark building a relationship with his dad after not knowing each other for so many years. Personally it make me think of how bad the racism are in the world and how that must change. We need to treat each other equally...

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

My husband said this would be boring. It wasn't.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book by Alan Duff I have read and found it an interesting read . An easy style of writing makes for a quick read. Interesting characters whose personalities develop as the story unfolds with Duff allowing the different characters to tell their story in alternating chapters. Some chapters are very short which adds some momentum to the novel which is divided into 3 parts and takes the reader from New Zealand to America. I will be on the look out for other work by Alan Duff

[Nelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the synopsis and thought I might like it. I was wrong...I loved it.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une belle découverte et mise en regard de deux peuples colonisés.