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Hoi Polloi
The hilariously compelling memoir that was hailed as an instant classic.
Hoi Polloi recounts a childhood spent on racetracks and in bars, as the author’s parents struggle to climb the social ladder. It begins in 1968 in the small town of Heritage, New Zealand. Living above the bar of his family’s hotel, the young Craig is exposed to violence, drinking and murky racial politics. His parents, whom Sherborne thinks of as “Winks” and “Heels” in his eccentric personal language, decide to sell the hotel and move to Sydney, Australia – which they imagine as New Zealand’s “England”, a place of boundless wealth, prestige and social opportunities.
Once in Sydney, the family begins a love affair with the racing scene. Written with extraordinary sympathy and verve, Hoi Polloi is the portrait of an extraordinary childhood – brutal, poignant and unforgettable.
‘I read the first sentence and then pushed the day’s work aside and sat down to read it all. I haven’t come across such a lively and gripping memoir in a long time.’ —Hilary Mantel
‘A scalding memoir, funny, fast-moving, shot through with a fierce pathos.’ —Helen Garner
‘Craig Sherborne has written one of the great Australian memoirs … Hoi Polloi is a pure comic outrage of a book that will keep you wide-eyed with wonder way past dawn.’ —Peter Craven
‘A lyrical, candid memoir … Sherborne’s parents are reanimated as tragi-comic grotesques, irresistibly awful, touchingly ludicrous, mordantly sensitive and painfully funny’ —the Times
‘A brilliant, searing memoir and a major new work of life writing.’ —David McCooey, Australian Book Review
Craig Sherborne’s books include The Amateur Science of Love, Bullion and Necessary Evil. His memoir Hoi Polloi was shortlisted for two literary awards, and its sequel, Muck, won the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction. Sherborne’s journalism and poetry have appeared in most of Australia’s leading literary journals and anthologies.
Hoi Polloi recounts a childhood spent on racetracks and in bars, as the author’s parents struggle to climb the social ladder. It begins in 1968 in the small town of Heritage, New Zealand. Living above the bar of his family’s hotel, the young Craig is exposed to violence, drinking and murky racial politics. His parents, whom Sherborne thinks of as “Winks” and “Heels” in his eccentric personal language, decide to sell the hotel and move to Sydney, Australia – which they imagine as New Zealand’s “England”, a place of boundless wealth, prestige and social opportunities.
Once in Sydney, the family begins a love affair with the racing scene. Written with extraordinary sympathy and verve, Hoi Polloi is the portrait of an extraordinary childhood – brutal, poignant and unforgettable.
‘I read the first sentence and then pushed the day’s work aside and sat down to read it all. I haven’t come across such a lively and gripping memoir in a long time.’ —Hilary Mantel
‘A scalding memoir, funny, fast-moving, shot through with a fierce pathos.’ —Helen Garner
‘Craig Sherborne has written one of the great Australian memoirs … Hoi Polloi is a pure comic outrage of a book that will keep you wide-eyed with wonder way past dawn.’ —Peter Craven
‘A lyrical, candid memoir … Sherborne’s parents are reanimated as tragi-comic grotesques, irresistibly awful, touchingly ludicrous, mordantly sensitive and painfully funny’ —the Times
‘A brilliant, searing memoir and a major new work of life writing.’ —David McCooey, Australian Book Review
Craig Sherborne’s books include The Amateur Science of Love, Bullion and Necessary Evil. His memoir Hoi Polloi was shortlisted for two literary awards, and its sequel, Muck, won the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction. Sherborne’s journalism and poetry have appeared in most of Australia’s leading literary journals and anthologies.
204 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2005
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39 people want to read
About the author
Craig Sherborne
13 books12 followersCraig Sherborne, a Melbourne based poet and playwright, was educated at Scots College in Sydney before attending drama school in London. He worked as a journalist for Melbourne based newspapers, was a senior writer with the Melbourne Sun, and is published in literary journals and anthologies.
Sherborne's play, 'The Ones Out of Town', won the Wal Cherry Play of the Year Award in 1989. His radio play, 'Table Leg', won the Ian Reed Foundation Fellowship for new writing for radio in 1991.
The ABC commissioned work from him including 'The Pike Harvest' (1992). His verse-drama, Look at Everything Twice for Me, was published by Currency Press, his first volume of poetry, Bullion, by Penguin in 1995, and his second, Necessary Evil, by Black Inc. in 2005.
Craig Sherborne's memoir Hoi Polloi was published in 2005; it was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s and Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.. Its sequel, Muck, was published in 2007 and won the Queensland Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 2008.
Craig’s first novel, The Amateur Science of Love, won the Melbourne Prize for Literature’s Best Writing Award, and was shortlisted for a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and a NSW Premier’s Literary Award.
Sherborne's play, 'The Ones Out of Town', won the Wal Cherry Play of the Year Award in 1989. His radio play, 'Table Leg', won the Ian Reed Foundation Fellowship for new writing for radio in 1991.
The ABC commissioned work from him including 'The Pike Harvest' (1992). His verse-drama, Look at Everything Twice for Me, was published by Currency Press, his first volume of poetry, Bullion, by Penguin in 1995, and his second, Necessary Evil, by Black Inc. in 2005.
Craig Sherborne's memoir Hoi Polloi was published in 2005; it was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s and Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.. Its sequel, Muck, was published in 2007 and won the Queensland Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 2008.
Craig’s first novel, The Amateur Science of Love, won the Melbourne Prize for Literature’s Best Writing Award, and was shortlisted for a Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and a NSW Premier’s Literary Award.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 31, 2018
I wondered where the Maori/ POC reviewers of his work were?
A very well written and illustrative experience of a priviliged Aus/NZ boy who perpetually offloads the repercussions of his actions onto the vulnerable or disadvantaged who are around him. The saving grace might have been if he realised that or discussed it in a more critical manner but instead I felt like the author was re-perpretrating those actions, re-applying the racism of his youth again in the book, glorifying the violence and fistfights that make up a troubled masculinity.
Still I would reccommend it as a well written case study of how racism and classism can fester in the world of a child who should be free of those pretensions.
A very well written and illustrative experience of a priviliged Aus/NZ boy who perpetually offloads the repercussions of his actions onto the vulnerable or disadvantaged who are around him. The saving grace might have been if he realised that or discussed it in a more critical manner but instead I felt like the author was re-perpretrating those actions, re-applying the racism of his youth again in the book, glorifying the violence and fistfights that make up a troubled masculinity.
Still I would reccommend it as a well written case study of how racism and classism can fester in the world of a child who should be free of those pretensions.
March 23, 2020
I read this book for university, and I'm happy it was one of our assigned texts. This is a coming of age memoir, a work of truth and honesty from a local talent. Sherborne is an Australian born writer and Hoi Polloi tells the story of his early life, from the ages of 5-15. He talks about life, a good chunk of which was spent in small town New Zealand and the family pub. He speaks of life growing up trackside, a brush with religion, with suicide, with confused homosexuality and with an older woman. He beats up a homeless man, calls his mothers best friend a whore and shows a penchant for Shakespeare. He battles with his parents, nicknamed Winks and Heels, constant attempts at social climbing and belittling of every single action he has done or not done. This is a light hearted recount of a VERY interesting life, Sherborne has an amazing story to tell.
March 29, 2020
Grotty and vivid and snarky. The language develops as the narrator does. And as he becomes aware of the meanness and lying. Interesting characters. Maybe more of a 3.5 not sure I really wanted to know so much about boys. Bro-lit? Definitely an insight into a different age and place and people.
March 29, 2015
This is the first of 'My Own Books' that I haven't really enjoyed. I read to the end only because I'd started it as part of a Reading Challenge, otherwise I would have put it to one side. I felt the author had a bit of a chip on his shoulder and didn't really like hearing his seedy side of coming of age.
September 2, 2010
Semi-interesting memoir of Australian life.
March 4, 2015
A Memoir of the Authors boyhood, Growing up in Heritage NZ and then Moving to Sydney as a teen. Plenty of Testosterone. Comparable to John Doust's Boy on a Wire.
March 2, 2015
Interesting boyhood
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews