Keep It Simple, Stupid

by Peter Goldsworthy

Paul "Mack" McNeil has a reconstructed knee, an unreconstructed life, and a taste for Baci chocolates. The favourite son of a struggling Italian soccer club in the western suburbs, he is desperate to keep playing. But does the Club, his surrogate family, still want him? Once known for his quick wit, of late Mack finds his jokes falling on deaf ears. His mother is in a nursing home which he never visits; his wife, who wants a baby, won't talk to him; her best friend thinks he belongs in the Stone Age, and his new coach thinks he is past it - and yet Mack jokes on, relentlessly. Porn-and-prawn nights at the Club, early morning milk runs, and day and night marital disharmony are the raw material from which he must reshape his life, stepping stones as he struggles towards a new perception of himself and his world.

303 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Peter Goldsworthy grew up in various Australian country towns, finishing his schooling in Darwin. After graduating in medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1974, he worked for many years in alcohol and drug rehabiiltation. Since then, he has divided his time equally between writing and general practice. He has won major literary awards across a range of genres: poetry, short story, the novel, in opera, and most recently in theatre.

Reviews

[Simon Bate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mack likes playing football for an Italian Aussie football/ soccer team...he's a bit of a larrikin and has a wife who stays with him until he belts her....he's a teacher but he wants to be a milkman and he's got a low sperm count.....but all ends well as he picks up his old Mum from a nursing home and takes his wife back from her best friend so they can live happily ever after together !!!!!!!
There is sooooo much wrong with this book....read Maestro if you want to read a good Peter Goldsworthy novel.

[Donald Robertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of his best. Read 'Minotaur' instead.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

average - couldn't finish it as just didn't care what happened to him. Perhaps a blokes book.