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Shirl
A lonely yowie emerges from the bush to attend the Desperate and Dateless Ball. Mysterious creatures descend from the sky to place a ban on footy. A shark named Bruce turns up in the local swimming pool. A fisherman enjoying a boys' weekend on the Murray River finds perspective where he least expects it.
In Shirl, Wayne Marshall takes a range of what-if scenarios to their fabulist and comedic extremes. Superbly inventive and powerful, these fourteen stories skewer contemporary Australian society - particularly the crisis of masculinity and national identity - in insightful and yet hilarious ways, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Slightly warped and darkly comic, this astounding collection will make you rethink what it means to be Australian.
In Shirl, Wayne Marshall takes a range of what-if scenarios to their fabulist and comedic extremes. Superbly inventive and powerful, these fourteen stories skewer contemporary Australian society - particularly the crisis of masculinity and national identity - in insightful and yet hilarious ways, blurring the line between fantasy and reality. Slightly warped and darkly comic, this astounding collection will make you rethink what it means to be Australian.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
274 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2020
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142 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 26, 2022
Well, that was fun. Such an outrageous collection of 14 Australian stories challenging our national identity, challenging Aussie males and just plain being inventive and usually fun, but some darker stories abound.
Loaned by a good friend, it's been sitting on my table for a while, but I found it worth the journey, maybe too Aussie for those not familiar with our culture and mores. Fun though, the Yowie and the feature story were my favourites as well as the last one, not sure if fact or fiction.
Loaned by a good friend, it's been sitting on my table for a while, but I found it worth the journey, maybe too Aussie for those not familiar with our culture and mores. Fun though, the Yowie and the feature story were my favourites as well as the last one, not sure if fact or fiction.
February 28, 2020
Shirl (Affirm Press 2020), the debut collection of short stories by Wayne Marshall, is a quirky, courageous, imaginative and outrageous book, undercut by a seam of tenderness and humility and an ever-present sense of humanity and mortality.
Fans of Julie Koh, Jane Rawson and Ryan O’Neill will appreciate Marshall’s wry sense of humour and his outlandish and creative sense of fun. Every story is imbued with a touch of magical realism but in the most unexpected ways. The collection has a couple of themes. One is the Aussie culture, particularly masculinity and the mannerisms and collective idiosyncrasies of ‘true-blue Aussie blokes’. Marshall manages to poke fun at stereotypes and see the humorous side of truisms whilst also acknowledging that he is doing just that, and demonstrating that maybe – underneath the bravado – men are still capable of vulnerability, compassion, emotion and sadness, despite the hard carapace they may show to the world (and more pertinently, to their families and closest friends). Another theme is illness – Marshall was diagnosed with bowel cancer at a young age and his meditations and questions around illness, symptoms, treatments, fears and gratefulness are threaded throughout the stories, connecting them like a daisy chain.
Some of the stories are speculative fiction: The Telexican Brides; some appear at first to be ordinary narratives until something extraordinary happens: The Magpie Game, Cod Opening; some confront common Australian cultural mores such as sport (fishing, footy, cricket): Gibson’s Bat ‘n’ Ball, Our Year Without Footy, or alcohol consumption: Warrentopia. There’s a shark called Bruce that lives in the local pool; a Yowie yearning for company; a man who has fallen in love with a kangaroo. Several of the stories have appeared previously in literary journals and it is a sign of the strength of Marshall’s writing that even though I had read The Hearing in an issue of Kill Your Darlings Best Australian Fiction, re-reading it still felt fresh and new. Some of the stories eg The Phoenix Rising address fear and some, like Levitation, address hope. Some, like The Magicians, ask us to question how far we would go in the same situation. The final story, Weekend in Albury, features Marshall’s mother and is again a complex mix of truth and fiction.
All of the stories consider men, their relationships with each other and the dynamics between them and others. If you enjoyed The Hunter and Other Stories of Men by David Cohen, this will have a similar appeal.
What sets this collection apart, however, is its thought-provoking exploration of the meaning of life, which is done through a combination of stories that are wholly fiction, and some that obviously incorporate true aspects of the author’s own life and experience. Sometimes these differences are obvious, and sometimes the reader is left truly wondering where the blurred boundary lies.
Fans of Julie Koh, Jane Rawson and Ryan O’Neill will appreciate Marshall’s wry sense of humour and his outlandish and creative sense of fun. Every story is imbued with a touch of magical realism but in the most unexpected ways. The collection has a couple of themes. One is the Aussie culture, particularly masculinity and the mannerisms and collective idiosyncrasies of ‘true-blue Aussie blokes’. Marshall manages to poke fun at stereotypes and see the humorous side of truisms whilst also acknowledging that he is doing just that, and demonstrating that maybe – underneath the bravado – men are still capable of vulnerability, compassion, emotion and sadness, despite the hard carapace they may show to the world (and more pertinently, to their families and closest friends). Another theme is illness – Marshall was diagnosed with bowel cancer at a young age and his meditations and questions around illness, symptoms, treatments, fears and gratefulness are threaded throughout the stories, connecting them like a daisy chain.
Some of the stories are speculative fiction: The Telexican Brides; some appear at first to be ordinary narratives until something extraordinary happens: The Magpie Game, Cod Opening; some confront common Australian cultural mores such as sport (fishing, footy, cricket): Gibson’s Bat ‘n’ Ball, Our Year Without Footy, or alcohol consumption: Warrentopia. There’s a shark called Bruce that lives in the local pool; a Yowie yearning for company; a man who has fallen in love with a kangaroo. Several of the stories have appeared previously in literary journals and it is a sign of the strength of Marshall’s writing that even though I had read The Hearing in an issue of Kill Your Darlings Best Australian Fiction, re-reading it still felt fresh and new. Some of the stories eg The Phoenix Rising address fear and some, like Levitation, address hope. Some, like The Magicians, ask us to question how far we would go in the same situation. The final story, Weekend in Albury, features Marshall’s mother and is again a complex mix of truth and fiction.
All of the stories consider men, their relationships with each other and the dynamics between them and others. If you enjoyed The Hunter and Other Stories of Men by David Cohen, this will have a similar appeal.
What sets this collection apart, however, is its thought-provoking exploration of the meaning of life, which is done through a combination of stories that are wholly fiction, and some that obviously incorporate true aspects of the author’s own life and experience. Sometimes these differences are obvious, and sometimes the reader is left truly wondering where the blurred boundary lies.
February 18, 2020
Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover, and this one hooked me precisely because it was so gleefully disturbing. While many of Wayne Marshall’s stories were previously published in various outlets, when taken together in this offbeat collection they read like Australia’s answer to The Twilight Zone or similar speculative anthologies. Written at different times, there’s nevertheless a rhythm to book as Marshall lines up our complex relationship with various sacred cows – sport, drinking, footy, Yowies – and knocks them down while simultaneously celebrating them. (“Gibson’s Bat n’ Ball” looks at the limits Australians have when it comes to self-reflection and sport, while “Warrentopia” could be a spiritual continuation of Wake in Fright’s observations on drinking culture). Other stories are intensely personal, inspired by the cancer Marshall was battling when he began writing (most directly in “Levitation”), and some are just delightfully strange (“The Magicians” and “A Night Out,” the latter of which inspires the title and the unnerving cover image). You may not connect with all 14 outings, especially if you binge them in a short burst. Still, whether you are a part of this culture or a complete outsider, it’s rare to find a series of tales that understands how being Australian is often just plain weird.
August 16, 2020
A really blokey true blue collection of short stories.
Combining Slightly supernatural elements with bloke culture.
A mermaid caught on a group of mates fishing trip, a mail-order bride style kangaroo, fish-faced aliens enforcing a ban on footy experiment in a small town (no footy, no remorse), a Yowie coming into town on a S&B ball bender finding more than he bargained for, amongst a number of other wild stories. Quite a bit of fun. One I wouldn't normally pick up except I've been trying to add reading a short story collection to keep my covid19 attention deficit disorder supplied with good reading material when a novels seems like too much effort concentration wise.
Combining Slightly supernatural elements with bloke culture.
A mermaid caught on a group of mates fishing trip, a mail-order bride style kangaroo, fish-faced aliens enforcing a ban on footy experiment in a small town (no footy, no remorse), a Yowie coming into town on a S&B ball bender finding more than he bargained for, amongst a number of other wild stories. Quite a bit of fun. One I wouldn't normally pick up except I've been trying to add reading a short story collection to keep my covid19 attention deficit disorder supplied with good reading material when a novels seems like too much effort concentration wise.
March 17, 2020
There is something to be said about stories that can transport you directly into your childhood or life.
Mr. Marshall doesn't hold back and why should he? Luckily, for us the pieces of old Australiana are still here intact... and as cheeky and brave as ever!
Loved it.
Mr. Marshall doesn't hold back and why should he? Luckily, for us the pieces of old Australiana are still here intact... and as cheeky and brave as ever!
Loved it.
April 2, 2020
What a wild, delightful, clever and unexpectedly moving trip this is. It all has a strange accumulative effect. You begin to accept these impossible things are normal. Normal starts to look less-so. You can't spot the difference by the end. A brilliant debut collection.
April 9, 2020
A short stories snap shot of Australian life given a twist in each tale. A great read.
July 20, 2020
There is a two page story in this collection about a shark named Bruce that lives in a public swimming pool and it is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever read.
July 7, 2020
This was an interesting read... there was something quintessentially Australian about it, which I LOVED. But I found the stories to be a bit far fetched and struggled to find the ability to suspend my disbelief. I found after many of the stories i had to put the book down and step away from it, as something about the stories unsettled me and I would find it difficult to pick the book back up. The ideas in it where very original and wild, it was also written well.
I can defiantly see why people love this book so much but was just not my cuppa tea.
I can defiantly see why people love this book so much but was just not my cuppa tea.
August 11, 2020
3.5
I first read Wayne Marshall in the 2019 KYD short fiction collection, and was struck by his story The Hearing, which built on a simple premise to deconstruct toxic masculinity in an original, creative way. I was interested to read more of his work, and was sent this collection as a gift by Affirm Press during the lockdown.
This wacky, absurdist collection of short stories was a lot of fun, deconstructing tropes of Australiana and masculinity. It's much more blokey than anything I'd normally read, but there's real heart at the centre of these stories that I connected to. Some of them I wasn't too sure what the point was, and sometimes I wondered what the message or attitude towards women was, but for the most part I enjoyed this and would recommend it as a good way to switch both on and off during this time of isolation.
I first read Wayne Marshall in the 2019 KYD short fiction collection, and was struck by his story The Hearing, which built on a simple premise to deconstruct toxic masculinity in an original, creative way. I was interested to read more of his work, and was sent this collection as a gift by Affirm Press during the lockdown.
This wacky, absurdist collection of short stories was a lot of fun, deconstructing tropes of Australiana and masculinity. It's much more blokey than anything I'd normally read, but there's real heart at the centre of these stories that I connected to. Some of them I wasn't too sure what the point was, and sometimes I wondered what the message or attitude towards women was, but for the most part I enjoyed this and would recommend it as a good way to switch both on and off during this time of isolation.
June 24, 2020
The titular story is excellent, surreal and funny and original, but the rest failed to captivate me. Marshall’s voice felt very much like a combination of Tim Winston and Peter Carey, and there’s an obviously masculine feel to the book with plenty of sheilas and fishing and sport: unfortunately I am not a fan of any of these things. I can see what he’s trying to do here in terms of using ironic stereotypes and Aussie-isms in a playful way to comment on masculinity in our culture, and he probably achieves it, but again, this is just not my kind of book. Didn’t really like the way Marshall used cancer in the stories either - I found it a bit hard to swallow, but appreciate this was probably a way for him to process his own experience of cancer.
April 19, 2020
I think probably my three least favourite words in Australian English are “bloke”, “mate” and “footy”. Call me un-Australian, but these three words to me represent a culture of masculinity that gives me the horrors (Australian masculinity, for instance, might yell “faggot” at you from a car while you’re holding hands with your boyfriend while walking down Toorak Road. For instance). So when I opened Shirl to find it was in large part about Victorian blokes hanging out with mates thinking about footy, it’s safe to say I didn’t think we would get along.
But to my delight inside I found 14 whimsical, absurd and fairly transgressive short stories, very much in the spirit of the gorgeous cover. They’re the kind of stories you might hear in a country pub, full of exaggeration and blokey humour. But each of them undoes masculinity, often fantastically. Read more on my blog.
But to my delight inside I found 14 whimsical, absurd and fairly transgressive short stories, very much in the spirit of the gorgeous cover. They’re the kind of stories you might hear in a country pub, full of exaggeration and blokey humour. But each of them undoes masculinity, often fantastically. Read more on my blog.
March 15, 2020
A small book of big short stories, all of which are not what they seem and quirky, oddball and peculiar in nature. I had to double-back several times in my reading each story just to make sure I was actually reading what I was reading correctly. And that what I read - something wild and far-fetched -was actually before my eyes. 'Shirl' was a book of stories akin to aussie myths and legends, but with almost plausible twists, like the yowie. And banning football and cricket. And mermaids. And Wendy Thompson in Albury. I think this book grew on me as I read it. It wasn't instant love, but I could always feel it, like something in the corner of your eye - you're not sure if whether if you acknowledge you will make it come true.
August 26, 2020
Another one with rave reviews that sucked me in.
'Insightful,
bizarre,
comedic,
humorous,
consistently funny'
Okay. The list goes on but I'm stopping right there.
Consistently funny? What????
I've read five stories, so a bit over a third of the way through. At no stage have I even cracked a slight smile. In fact, I'm yet to recognise a place where the author might have thought it was funny.
So, if it's 'consistently funny' the reviewer has a very different idea of funny to me. And I really do like humour. Especially dark humour. This collection did tend towards dark but the humour was sadly absent.
Giving up at this point.
Also, one of the reviewers claimed he was a worth successor to Peter Carey. No. Not in a million years.
'Insightful,
bizarre,
comedic,
humorous,
consistently funny'
Okay. The list goes on but I'm stopping right there.
Consistently funny? What????
I've read five stories, so a bit over a third of the way through. At no stage have I even cracked a slight smile. In fact, I'm yet to recognise a place where the author might have thought it was funny.
So, if it's 'consistently funny' the reviewer has a very different idea of funny to me. And I really do like humour. Especially dark humour. This collection did tend towards dark but the humour was sadly absent.
Giving up at this point.
Also, one of the reviewers claimed he was a worth successor to Peter Carey. No. Not in a million years.
December 29, 2025
I disappeared into Shirl yesterday as my kids were fighting over the Xbox and the rain poured outside and I never had such a good day. Well, maybe except for the time I read the Time Travellers Wife (which is still my favourite book, sorry Shirl). I love a book that helps me really enjoy a day. I had an experience reading Shirl. The writing is first rate, the ideas exceptional. I mean, how does he even make these out of left field ideas into a believable story? It reminds me a bit of Stephen King or Jeffrey Archer short stories, each one ends in a very satisfying way, but at the same time they create such vivid worlds that you’d be happy if each one was the start of a whole book.
August 15, 2020
I described this collection to my partner when I was halfway through as “Paul Jennings for grownups,” and the collection took a bit of a darker turn after that point but it still feels sort of accurate. These are wild outlandish tales with a surprisingly emotional heart, full of nostalgic country Australiana and a (mostly) affectionate skewering of a certain kind of stoic blokey (white) masculinity. It’s a playful collection with a few dark twists and poignant moments and I really enjoyed it.
February 9, 2023
3.5* - Rlly enjoyed the commentary on ‘masculinity’ in Aussie culture. Some stories I abso loved and made me feel things and others just didn’t land for me personally. A hard one to rate. I’d defo like to read more of his work. Faves were ‘The Hearing’, ‘Levitation’, ‘Our Year Without Footy’, and ‘Weekend in Albury’.
April 22, 2020
A playful, often heart-rending and always imaginative collection of short stories that pokes fun at the Australian male's preoccupation with sport and alcohol in one story, then subtly, subversively, presents us with the fragility, longing and confusion of Australian males in the next.
October 25, 2022
Funny riffs on Australian cultural stereotypes. Writen in a familiar/nostalgic voice with absurdity and magic realist leanings. Sorta adult Round the Twist. Enjoyed a lot of the clever ideas behind the stories. Kept thinking this would translate well to an animated series.
January 22, 2020
A great read, tough Aussie blokes from the bush, big nights out and everything Australiana.
March 29, 2021
An excellent collection of short stories depicting the Austraian obsessions in a bizarre imaginative way.
October 30, 2022
What a great entertaining series of short stories
All very Australian
All got a twist
Very readable
Sign me up to Wayne’s fan group 🤩
All very Australian
All got a twist
Very readable
Sign me up to Wayne’s fan group 🤩
November 11, 2023
Every story in this book could be a piece on 'a current affair'. Tracy Grimshaw would nail the audiobook.
July 20, 2020
Wayne Marshall’s Shirl is an odd collection of stories. The book is billed as “insightful” and “humorous” but there are few insights and a even fewer laughs in this tired collection of Australian cliches and tropes, many of which feel very dated.
June 9, 2024
Read the full review and more at Quill & Quoll book reviews: https://www.quillandquoll.com
One day, purely by chance, I stumbled across a book emblazoned with an illustration of a man romancing a kangaroo.
It was one of the most bizarre covers I have ever seen, so naturally, I had to find out more. It appeared to be a book of short stories, so I ended up getting a copy from my local library with the idea of reading maybe two or three of the stories to see what was going on with this book and its unexpected, eye-catching cover. And I was completely blown away.
Published in January 2020, 'Shirl' is a collection of fourteen short stories written by Australian author Wayne Marshall which examine contemporary Australian society through a variety of hyperbolic and entertaining what-if scenarios: A lonely Yowie emerges from the bush to attend the Desperate and Dateless Ball; Aliens descend from the sky to ban footy for one year; An amusement park holds a funeral for the death of sport; A shark appears in the local swimming pool; A man falls in love with a Kangaroo.
I was really surprised and impressed by this book. Each story explores different aspects of contemporary Australian society; the trappings of masculinity, an individual's experiences of illness and rebirth, and the concepts of mateship, drinking culture, and sports as staples of national identity. Marshall turns these concepts on their head to explore how our obsessions can lead to detriment. It has a particular focus on the lives of Australian men, using the medium of short stories to effectively explore experiences of male shame, regret, loneliness, and the departure of childhood. In regards to audience, by exploring such themes, these stories would probably resonate strongest with middle-aged Australian men of anglo-celtic descent, but Marshall's skill in combining insight and hilarity to subvert expectations ensures 'Shirl' is a fascinating read for a wide variety of readers.
This book is strewn with Australian slang and touchstones: gum trees, Hanging Rock, Hills Hoists, cricket, footy, the green and gold, utes, eskies, a tinnie, bundy, akubras, stubbies, Mr Whippy, VB, the ABC, Australia Post, murray cod, Slim Dusty, getting swooped by a magpie, even the red and yellow lids of wheelie bins were mentioned. It was an absolute delight to read something so Aussie in setting and execution.
'Shirl' is an excellent book that explores truths of reality through a lens of strange peculiarity, comedic absurdity and heartbreaking honesty. I really recommend giving it a read!
One day, purely by chance, I stumbled across a book emblazoned with an illustration of a man romancing a kangaroo.
It was one of the most bizarre covers I have ever seen, so naturally, I had to find out more. It appeared to be a book of short stories, so I ended up getting a copy from my local library with the idea of reading maybe two or three of the stories to see what was going on with this book and its unexpected, eye-catching cover. And I was completely blown away.
Published in January 2020, 'Shirl' is a collection of fourteen short stories written by Australian author Wayne Marshall which examine contemporary Australian society through a variety of hyperbolic and entertaining what-if scenarios: A lonely Yowie emerges from the bush to attend the Desperate and Dateless Ball; Aliens descend from the sky to ban footy for one year; An amusement park holds a funeral for the death of sport; A shark appears in the local swimming pool; A man falls in love with a Kangaroo.
I was really surprised and impressed by this book. Each story explores different aspects of contemporary Australian society; the trappings of masculinity, an individual's experiences of illness and rebirth, and the concepts of mateship, drinking culture, and sports as staples of national identity. Marshall turns these concepts on their head to explore how our obsessions can lead to detriment. It has a particular focus on the lives of Australian men, using the medium of short stories to effectively explore experiences of male shame, regret, loneliness, and the departure of childhood. In regards to audience, by exploring such themes, these stories would probably resonate strongest with middle-aged Australian men of anglo-celtic descent, but Marshall's skill in combining insight and hilarity to subvert expectations ensures 'Shirl' is a fascinating read for a wide variety of readers.
This book is strewn with Australian slang and touchstones: gum trees, Hanging Rock, Hills Hoists, cricket, footy, the green and gold, utes, eskies, a tinnie, bundy, akubras, stubbies, Mr Whippy, VB, the ABC, Australia Post, murray cod, Slim Dusty, getting swooped by a magpie, even the red and yellow lids of wheelie bins were mentioned. It was an absolute delight to read something so Aussie in setting and execution.
'Shirl' is an excellent book that explores truths of reality through a lens of strange peculiarity, comedic absurdity and heartbreaking honesty. I really recommend giving it a read!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews