What do you think?
Rate this book
No Neat Endings
A young man can't make love. A pedantic father spots a blemish in his new shorts and returns to the shop to demand their exchange. A girl rocks up to a Tinder date wearing a helmet. In nineteen short stories, No Neat Endings pits its characters against the challenges of modern life, sex, love, work and the world. A man observes his brother's rise to comic stardom with envy and angst. A father faces his fortieth with mortal paranoia. A friend returns from Brazil to become embroiled in a drug-fuelled romp in a share house. It doesn't work out. For so many of the characters in these stories, it doesn't end well. They succumb to their own vices, impulses, insecurities. They have, more often than not, only themselves to blame. Half tragedy, half comedy, this collection announces a fresh new voice in Australian writing. '...No Neat Endings as a whole remains a strong meditation on masculinity in Australia and its many fault lines.' - Nathan Smith, Books+Publishing
Paperback
11 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 28, 2023
An eclectic mix of nineteen short stories, each of them told from the perspective of a different bloke. It’s a quirky collection with an Aussie sardonic view of the world. Life in the City, told by men of all ages, with different things on their mind.
Impotence (got your attention), work meltdowns, and meltdowns at the shopping mall. The fear of chasing your dreams, the fear of your dreams becoming a reality. Mental anxiety. Emotional crises. The boredom of work. Capitalism (can’t live with it, can’t live without it). Job satisfaction. Job dissatisfaction. Sibling jealousy. Emotional crises. Stories about grief. Friends that have lost the plot. Relationship breakdowns. Being a smug so and so because you’ve made it (whatever “it” is).
There is an exploding man (yes! truly).
And another who buys a new Lamborghini when he's bored. Just because he can. Off to the car dealership in William Street he goes, in an ironically titled story called Epiphany.
”The real question, and one he would ask repeatedly henceforth, more than any other question, was why? Ohmygod.
Why?
Why is my garage so small?”
Possibly a good existential question to have.
Crazy nights out on cactus juice…
Beware the friend you’ve not seen for some years who’s now living in a share house in Redfern. His head is shaved for a reason…
" 'It was the stuff he had,' he said, sipping his tea. 'That cactus stuff he brought back from Salvador. It made us a little wild.' "
Some of the stories were sad, others were laugh out loud with crazy dark humour. There’s a Tinder date from hell in The Problem where Jim & Ella meet for a drink at a pub in Crown Street. It’s a battle of the sexes with a very modern twist.
There’s a nice nod to Raymond Carver with a story titled Will You Please Not Be a Wanker, Please? and a very amusing episode of faulty shorts where a man embarrasses his son returning said pair to Rip Curl as he knows his consumer rights in Defect. More serious topics relating to health concerns are in Farewelling Time and The Episode.
There is a story a mere two pages long titled Exit Ghost about an associate at a firm who ”billed a good twenty hours and still managed a forty minute run at lunch.” What a guy! But oh, the ending. I went, what-the-hell-just-happened-here.
That was my reaction for most of the stories. As the title suggests, there are indeed “no neat endings”. And that’s the beauty of them. You have no idea where they’re going, or where you’ll end up. Which range of emotions you’ll be served.
”What an awful way to start the day. Mark Zuckerberg. You fuckwit. I exit Facebook.”
According to the “About the Author” page, Dominic Carew is a lawyer by trade. I have to say, certain turns of phrase have me thinking that makes perfect sense. I love that this is set in my home City of beautiful Sydney, and that I know (and have worked at) many of the streets the Author named. Perhaps we’ve shared an elevator together? Stood next to each other waiting for a coffee.
Seriously good. Yet another book that has flown under the radar, when it really should be front and centre of lots of reading lists. A great quirky collection.
Impotence (got your attention), work meltdowns, and meltdowns at the shopping mall. The fear of chasing your dreams, the fear of your dreams becoming a reality. Mental anxiety. Emotional crises. The boredom of work. Capitalism (can’t live with it, can’t live without it). Job satisfaction. Job dissatisfaction. Sibling jealousy. Emotional crises. Stories about grief. Friends that have lost the plot. Relationship breakdowns. Being a smug so and so because you’ve made it (whatever “it” is).
There is an exploding man (yes! truly).
And another who buys a new Lamborghini when he's bored. Just because he can. Off to the car dealership in William Street he goes, in an ironically titled story called Epiphany.
”The real question, and one he would ask repeatedly henceforth, more than any other question, was why? Ohmygod.
Why?
Why is my garage so small?”
Possibly a good existential question to have.
Crazy nights out on cactus juice…
Beware the friend you’ve not seen for some years who’s now living in a share house in Redfern. His head is shaved for a reason…
" 'It was the stuff he had,' he said, sipping his tea. 'That cactus stuff he brought back from Salvador. It made us a little wild.' "
Some of the stories were sad, others were laugh out loud with crazy dark humour. There’s a Tinder date from hell in The Problem where Jim & Ella meet for a drink at a pub in Crown Street. It’s a battle of the sexes with a very modern twist.
There’s a nice nod to Raymond Carver with a story titled Will You Please Not Be a Wanker, Please? and a very amusing episode of faulty shorts where a man embarrasses his son returning said pair to Rip Curl as he knows his consumer rights in Defect. More serious topics relating to health concerns are in Farewelling Time and The Episode.
There is a story a mere two pages long titled Exit Ghost about an associate at a firm who ”billed a good twenty hours and still managed a forty minute run at lunch.” What a guy! But oh, the ending. I went, what-the-hell-just-happened-here.
That was my reaction for most of the stories. As the title suggests, there are indeed “no neat endings”. And that’s the beauty of them. You have no idea where they’re going, or where you’ll end up. Which range of emotions you’ll be served.
”What an awful way to start the day. Mark Zuckerberg. You fuckwit. I exit Facebook.”
According to the “About the Author” page, Dominic Carew is a lawyer by trade. I have to say, certain turns of phrase have me thinking that makes perfect sense. I love that this is set in my home City of beautiful Sydney, and that I know (and have worked at) many of the streets the Author named. Perhaps we’ve shared an elevator together? Stood next to each other waiting for a coffee.
Seriously good. Yet another book that has flown under the radar, when it really should be front and centre of lots of reading lists. A great quirky collection.
April 12, 2020
Wry, funny, touching tales of modern life. They don't always work but when they do, they reach right to the heart of the matter. The last two stories, Numbers Men and I'm Funny Too, Okay? are like needles in a sensitive spot.
July 28, 2021
I absolutely love reading about places I’ve been to- this book was set in Sydney, which is where I’m from. The place is familiar and the writing relatable.
As someone who has always been a fan of happy endings (no pun intended) , picking up this book was a spur of the moment; stories that do not have neat (happy) endings are just about as interesting to me as watching paint dry😉. However, as this was a compilation of numerous shorts stories, I figured it would a quick read if I did not like some of the stories.
Overall a fun and interesting read to pass the time. Check out the retail story- that gave me a little bit of PTSD. Ha
As someone who has always been a fan of happy endings (no pun intended) , picking up this book was a spur of the moment; stories that do not have neat (happy) endings are just about as interesting to me as watching paint dry😉. However, as this was a compilation of numerous shorts stories, I figured it would a quick read if I did not like some of the stories.
Overall a fun and interesting read to pass the time. Check out the retail story- that gave me a little bit of PTSD. Ha
December 1, 2021
It was great to read a book with the author living in the same City as me (Sydney Australia) as well as setting all the stories there. Some stories I skipped over as they weren't to my taste. Others I genuinely enjoyed. I got flashbacks to my HSC creative writing and thought this bloke would probably win all the short story awards! Looking forward to what he brings out next!
June 26, 2022
Insight into men who don't have their shit together and mostly aren't even aware that they don't. It was emotionally honest and sometimes kind of darkly humorous (tragically humorous?).
Well structured in terms of twists, characters and especially pacing.
Read this is you are willing to be convinced men are not worth your time.
Well structured in terms of twists, characters and especially pacing.
Read this is you are willing to be convinced men are not worth your time.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews