Punctuated by dogs and chooks and the daily tragicomedy of small town life, Bantam follows Mick and his mates as they court disaster and struggle to hold on in the roller-coaster ride of life on the dole.
Easy read for skilled readers, high appeal for those at high school without much interest in reading or with low reading ability.
Set in a remote small country town Mick tells his story. Having left school, tried working on a fishing boat but returned bush with his mate and his dog he finds the town has not moved on at all. Still the small town gossip and not much to do except drink, smoke and annoy each other. Mike tries to not fall into the same routines as his mates all the time and finds solace in his garden, his dog, fishing and at one point his relationship with Lou. Some non-subtle nagging from his sister and Mum keep reminding him of the bigger world.
The book touches on indigenous issues/politics but many just the issues of being in a small town with not much to do and expectations are low.