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Wildcat Screaming
Wildcat is out of prison, but not for long. In this sequel to Wild Cat Falling, Mudrooroo takes us inside the life of the urban Aboriginal. Set in the boom years of Perth bankers and entrepreneurs, we see the same wheeling and dealing from inside Fremantle prison. Wildcat has to survive, and understand the new order, set by the Chief Warder and an ex-Indian Army officer. Soon he too is part of their great creation, The Panopticon Prison Reform Society.
142 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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About the author
Mudrooroo
30 books10 followersBorn Colin Johnson in 1938, Mudrooroo grew up in institutions without his parents, before becoming a petty criminal and spending time in Fremantle Prison.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Mudrooroo spent time living in India, the United States, and the UK, during which time he published his early novels, including "Wild Cat Falling", a political novel drawing on his own experiences as a former convict without a sense of purpose.
On returning to Australia in the late 1970s, Mudrooroo began a full-time career as a writer, lecturer, and literary advocate, publishing several volumes examining the loneliness and isolation of Australian life, with a focus on Indigenous Australian existence. By the 1990s, he added speculative fiction and young adult fiction to his repertoire. He was recognised as one of the most well-known Indigenous writers in the country, at a time when Indigenous literature was finally gaining recognition in the country.
In 1996, however, journalists revealed that Mudrooroo had no Indigenous ancestry. His background was English and African-American, and his family did not view themselves as Aboriginal. In the resulting furore, Mudrooroo argued that he had been treated as Aboriginal due to his dark skin, and had in many ways lived an Aboriginal life. The scandal divided observers: some felt that Mudrooroo's contribution to Aboriginal writing, and his identification with Australia's First Peoples, gave him some claims of kinship. Many others felt that he had used stories that were not his, and actively lied, at a time when Aboriginal authenticity and identity were already under attack from white nationalists and cultural conservatives.
Although he published some final volumes through to the year 2000, Mudrooroo's reputation was sullied and he subsequently left Australia for Nepal. His writings have largely vanished from the school curriculum, with the prevailing cultural attitude of the modern era that Indigeneity comes from bloodlines and acceptance by the broader Indigenous community, rather than from self-identification.
In 2011, Mudrooroo returned to Australia with his wife and son, publishing a semi-autobiographical novel "Balga Boy Jackson" in 2017. He died in Brisbane in 2019.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Mudrooroo spent time living in India, the United States, and the UK, during which time he published his early novels, including "Wild Cat Falling", a political novel drawing on his own experiences as a former convict without a sense of purpose.
On returning to Australia in the late 1970s, Mudrooroo began a full-time career as a writer, lecturer, and literary advocate, publishing several volumes examining the loneliness and isolation of Australian life, with a focus on Indigenous Australian existence. By the 1990s, he added speculative fiction and young adult fiction to his repertoire. He was recognised as one of the most well-known Indigenous writers in the country, at a time when Indigenous literature was finally gaining recognition in the country.
In 1996, however, journalists revealed that Mudrooroo had no Indigenous ancestry. His background was English and African-American, and his family did not view themselves as Aboriginal. In the resulting furore, Mudrooroo argued that he had been treated as Aboriginal due to his dark skin, and had in many ways lived an Aboriginal life. The scandal divided observers: some felt that Mudrooroo's contribution to Aboriginal writing, and his identification with Australia's First Peoples, gave him some claims of kinship. Many others felt that he had used stories that were not his, and actively lied, at a time when Aboriginal authenticity and identity were already under attack from white nationalists and cultural conservatives.
Although he published some final volumes through to the year 2000, Mudrooroo's reputation was sullied and he subsequently left Australia for Nepal. His writings have largely vanished from the school curriculum, with the prevailing cultural attitude of the modern era that Indigeneity comes from bloodlines and acceptance by the broader Indigenous community, rather than from self-identification.
In 2011, Mudrooroo returned to Australia with his wife and son, publishing a semi-autobiographical novel "Balga Boy Jackson" in 2017. He died in Brisbane in 2019.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 28, 2023
This was an interesting book written by an Aboriginal Australian author about the difficulties prevalent in Australia throughout the 1950s/1960s. This book deals with the ideas around belonging and self-identity, with a specific focus on Indigenous Australian People's living amongst the Non-Indigenous Australian People. This isn't a text that I would read again, however, it provided me with some insights from a group that I'm not a member of from a time period I was never a part of.
March 21, 2013
This novel by an aboriginal writer is about an aboriginal male struggling to live in the Australian society of the 60's. This book was written almost 30 years after Wild Cat Falling (by the same author) that was I believe the first novel by an aboriginal person.
It is only apt that I finished this book on the train home from an exam in "Contemporary Schools of Literary Criticism" where by chance(or ill fate) the main question was about post-colonial literary criticism.
While not expecting a mark surpassing 80, due to notorious study practices (stemming from an inherent laziness and weak character) combined with an extremely short-term memory, I did learn some new things in this course, and thus gained a much better perspective and understanding of how to read this text as well as why it was written in first tense and using unique expressions.
I have also noticed, owing to this course, that the mixed, yet getting stabilized, identity formed by the book's speaker at the end, seems very much in line with Homi K. Bhabha's concept of hybridisation.
It is not the most interesting book I have ever read and certainly not the best written at that. However, I do think it gives an interesting perspective and does it in a unique way that deserves modest acclaim (i.e. 3 stars).
It is only apt that I finished this book on the train home from an exam in "Contemporary Schools of Literary Criticism" where by chance(or ill fate) the main question was about post-colonial literary criticism.
While not expecting a mark surpassing 80, due to notorious study practices (stemming from an inherent laziness and weak character) combined with an extremely short-term memory, I did learn some new things in this course, and thus gained a much better perspective and understanding of how to read this text as well as why it was written in first tense and using unique expressions.
I have also noticed, owing to this course, that the mixed, yet getting stabilized, identity formed by the book's speaker at the end, seems very much in line with Homi K. Bhabha's concept of hybridisation.
It is not the most interesting book I have ever read and certainly not the best written at that. However, I do think it gives an interesting perspective and does it in a unique way that deserves modest acclaim (i.e. 3 stars).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews