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Muck: A Memoir
The award-winning sequel to the acclaimed memoir Hoi Polloi.
“The dynasty has started with my father as the founding father and me his only son, the founding son. He looks forward to the day when he can watch his grandchildren out there in the clover-covered paddocks frolicking among the cowpats. Playing with a pony, getting stung by bees. The most wholesome activities in the world.”
With their only son on the brink of adolescence, the nouveaux-riches Sherbornes move away from the city to start a new, gentrified existence on a 300-acre farm – or “estate” – in Taonga, New Zealand. But life on the farm is anything but wholesome. Sherborne evokes his family’s slide into madness through a series of unforgettable, hilarious portraits: of “Feet,” his once-glamorous mother, now addled with snobbery, paranoia, and mental illness; of “The Duke,” his uncomprehending, sporadically violent father; and of himself, the “Lord Muck” of the title, at once helpless victim and ruthless agent of their undoing, who in the end must decide whether he can save his family.
Clear-sighted, lyrical, and marvellously funny, Muck is a heart-rending memoir of family discord and an exquisite story of a young artist in search of a self.
“The dynasty has started with my father as the founding father and me his only son, the founding son. He looks forward to the day when he can watch his grandchildren out there in the clover-covered paddocks frolicking among the cowpats. Playing with a pony, getting stung by bees. The most wholesome activities in the world.”
With their only son on the brink of adolescence, the nouveaux-riches Sherbornes move away from the city to start a new, gentrified existence on a 300-acre farm – or “estate” – in Taonga, New Zealand. But life on the farm is anything but wholesome. Sherborne evokes his family’s slide into madness through a series of unforgettable, hilarious portraits: of “Feet,” his once-glamorous mother, now addled with snobbery, paranoia, and mental illness; of “The Duke,” his uncomprehending, sporadically violent father; and of himself, the “Lord Muck” of the title, at once helpless victim and ruthless agent of their undoing, who in the end must decide whether he can save his family.
Clear-sighted, lyrical, and marvellously funny, Muck is a heart-rending memoir of family discord and an exquisite story of a young artist in search of a self.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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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 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 23, 2019
A status driven family riddled with pretension, and a New Zealand rural adolescent memoir with shades of Catcher in the Rye. Clever, real and, I thought, deeply sad. That is a personal reaction to the story it tells however, not the aim of the author - I felt the same about Catcher in the Rye. It is an extremely well written and brave memoir.
June 8, 2019
To put it shortly: I hate Catcher in the Rye. This reminded me of it and I was not surprised to see it referenced in the book. This was only slightly better.
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October 29, 2019I have decided my life is too short to waste time on reading books I really dont like just to finish them. So sadly this is a No 😞 from me. Im done after a third of the way through.
March 17, 2011
I gave this two stars because it did at least keep me reading. I kept waiting for some redeeming factor to be presented. It never arrived. As a matter of fact, the ending lowered him even further down the rung of my disrespect than the entirety of the memoir.
The only real compelling "character" in this memoir is his mom, referred to as "Feet". We get tantalizing glimpses into her irrationality and narcissism, however Sherborne's own narcissism (far less interesting) takes front seat as should be the case with such a personality.
He portrays himself as a young man who highly overestimated his value and skills, yet never seems to show any character development or that he ever learned anything by the way of his mistakes in estimation and action. He comes off as a whiny, overprivileged get who should have had the tar knocked out of him by his father.
I wouldn't recommend purchasing this, but if you find it lying on the back of the toilet seat next time you make a visit you might give a few pages a flip.
The only real compelling "character" in this memoir is his mom, referred to as "Feet". We get tantalizing glimpses into her irrationality and narcissism, however Sherborne's own narcissism (far less interesting) takes front seat as should be the case with such a personality.
He portrays himself as a young man who highly overestimated his value and skills, yet never seems to show any character development or that he ever learned anything by the way of his mistakes in estimation and action. He comes off as a whiny, overprivileged get who should have had the tar knocked out of him by his father.
I wouldn't recommend purchasing this, but if you find it lying on the back of the toilet seat next time you make a visit you might give a few pages a flip.
June 25, 2020
I picked this up at goodwill because the book itself is beautiful. I LOVE the cover art. When I started reading, I was wholly caught off guard. I wasn’t expecting the vulgar, insanity that I was getting myself into. I did not like the first chapter, for some reason I felt it was really difficult to understand. Perhaps the cultural differences in vocabulary? But I’m glad I kept reading because the story bloomed from there. The book would work well as fiction, but to learn it is an account of the author’s life is crazy. I can only hope that he has evolved entirely from the portrait of himself in this book. Throughout the majority of the book, I disliked his character. Simultaneously I was trying to diagnose the mental conditions of both mother and son. I really like that the author mentioned The Catch in the Rye, because this book definitely has that vibe. It was a very interesting read and I'm glad to have read it. I’m going to pass it on to my little free library down the road.
May 5, 2018
An absolutely engagingly honest evocation of the mind of a boy brought up in 20th century closed off to most influences, with only his own self-blaming answers to what happens around him.
The son and heir of his parents' pretensions, he tries to navigate between their expectations, the demands and sneers of his peers, and his own rising sexuality. Each scene is a battle in that continuing odyssey. Throughout I was hoping he would ultimately know who he is, rather than what his father wants and expects.
I was reminded of the paintings of Albert Tucker by the intensity and ugliness of the supporting characters. This satiric humor adds lightness and contrast to the struggles of the central character. I was given an intense introduction to the mind of this boy, as well as relating to much of his coming-of-age inner dialogue.
The son and heir of his parents' pretensions, he tries to navigate between their expectations, the demands and sneers of his peers, and his own rising sexuality. Each scene is a battle in that continuing odyssey. Throughout I was hoping he would ultimately know who he is, rather than what his father wants and expects.
I was reminded of the paintings of Albert Tucker by the intensity and ugliness of the supporting characters. This satiric humor adds lightness and contrast to the struggles of the central character. I was given an intense introduction to the mind of this boy, as well as relating to much of his coming-of-age inner dialogue.
February 13, 2013
This humorous, self-deprecating memoir of an Australian boy, defines social insanity as a new dimension of family dysfunctionality.
Smilingly wondering if he's ever found a sense of normalcy in his adult life, whatever that normal may be!
Smilingly wondering if he's ever found a sense of normalcy in his adult life, whatever that normal may be!
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March 19, 2012Choppy. Written in casual New Zealand conversational dialect. Very hard to follow ....
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews