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Jackaroo: A Memoir
From choirboy to cowboy . . .
In 1967, fresh from boarding school humiliations, and having lost his father to alcoholism, gangly teen Michael Thornton was packed off to a tough sheep and cattle station to work as a jackaroo. He was to learn the wool trade from the lamb up, under a boss legendary for working his farmhands in an almost military regimen.
Tasked with the dirty, disgusting and downright dangerous jobs, jackaroos are the dogsbodies of our farms. But at Habbies Howe, in central Victoria, somewhere between castrating lambs with his teeth and hauling backbreaking sacks of fertiliser for no obvious purpose, Michael discovered inner strength, and the friendship and male role models he'd craved.
He also earned respect – enough to later walk into a job with the nation's most famous farmer, the Defence Minister and future PM Malcolm Fraser.
In Jackaroo, Thornton recalls his years learning the ropes in an era when farm work was still done on horseback. Engaging, candid and often funny, his memoir reveals the hard working lives of the unsung all-rounders of the country.
'Engaging and energetic'
The Australian
239 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
3 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 3, 2018
I also walk around like a half open pocket knife
One of the best books I have ever read. It's a carbon copy of my early years except it was the old man instead of Mr Webb.
One of the best books I have ever read. It's a carbon copy of my early years except it was the old man instead of Mr Webb.
January 10, 2020
Well written with a typical Australian sense of humour. Quite funny in parts, also tells a great story of what it was like working on sheep farms a few decades ago (not sure how much has changed since?). All I can say is that hopefully we've since developed technology that makes it complete unnecessary to use one's teeth to castrate a lamb.
July 9, 2014
Cynthia Voigt wrote a series of books about a kingdom in a far off land, in a far off time, in a far off place. And I have never even heard of them!! I'ver read many of her other books, Izzy Willy Nilly, Dicey's Song, A Solitary Blue and I have really enjoyed them. So - how did I miss these??
Jackaroo is the March book for our new family book club and I was excited to read a well-loved author in a completely different way!
Jackaroo is a fable - a made up character who swoops in and saves the downtrodden just like Robin Hood. He wears a mask - appears and disappears in a moment. And he is the savior of the people. That is what they are called - the people. There are also Lords and Earls and a King. But they are far off - and rarely seen. The Kingdom is carried along by the people who toil in the Inns, and the fields and barely make it. Because the Lords and Ladies take their money for taxes. The people are not allowed to learn to read. They work and they live and then they die - young!
Gwynn is an Innkeeper's daughter who has refused to marry and knows she will spend her days working for her brother when he runs the Inn - women are not allowed to run a business. And then there is a mysterious Lord and his son who show up at the Inn and ask for Gwynn and her servant to take them on a mapping trip. And then there is a snowstorm!
Gwynn is stranded in a cottage - snowed in - with a moody young Lord who is not to speak to her. And then she makes an unexpected discovery.
I really liked Gwynn. She is the girl that I wanted to be - sure of herself and willing to take the consequences of changing the world she lives in for what she needs. And with her courage she is able to see the world make a little change!
Great start to the series
Jackaroo is the March book for our new family book club and I was excited to read a well-loved author in a completely different way!
Jackaroo is a fable - a made up character who swoops in and saves the downtrodden just like Robin Hood. He wears a mask - appears and disappears in a moment. And he is the savior of the people. That is what they are called - the people. There are also Lords and Earls and a King. But they are far off - and rarely seen. The Kingdom is carried along by the people who toil in the Inns, and the fields and barely make it. Because the Lords and Ladies take their money for taxes. The people are not allowed to learn to read. They work and they live and then they die - young!
Gwynn is an Innkeeper's daughter who has refused to marry and knows she will spend her days working for her brother when he runs the Inn - women are not allowed to run a business. And then there is a mysterious Lord and his son who show up at the Inn and ask for Gwynn and her servant to take them on a mapping trip. And then there is a snowstorm!
Gwynn is stranded in a cottage - snowed in - with a moody young Lord who is not to speak to her. And then she makes an unexpected discovery.
I really liked Gwynn. She is the girl that I wanted to be - sure of herself and willing to take the consequences of changing the world she lives in for what she needs. And with her courage she is able to see the world make a little change!
Great start to the series
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews