No Reference Intended

by Barry Crump

164 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

New Zealand author of semi-autobiographical comic novels based on his image as a rugged outdoors man.

Crump worked for many years as a government deer-culler in areas of New Zealand native forest (termed "the bush"). He wrote his first novel, A Good Keen Man, in 1960, based on his experiences as a government hunter. It was a fictional account of a young hunter who has to suffer through a series of hunting partners who are often unsuitable for the job. This novel became one of the most popular in New Zealand history,

Crump died in 1996 of a suspected aortic aneurysm. At the time of his death he was living at Ohauiti with his fifth wife, Maggie.

abridged from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as well known as Crumpy's classics but this is a real treat as Cosgrove takes his journalistic ambitions into the countryside and, when there is no story to be told, simply makes it up. And the more bizarre his invention gets, the funnier the book is. The characters are lively, hilarious and fascinating and the picture of small town New Zealand is delightful (if hilariously fictional). Cosgrove is a man driven but the further he drives the more of a mess he makes. The whole thing can be read in a morning but it's a morning well spent.

[Daren · Rating 2 out of 5]

Novel about a newspaper reporter and his departure into fiction.
Not really a typical Crump character or story, and not as successful as his other books.