Bedtime Yarns - Barry Crump

Published by Hodder Moa Beckett Publishers Limited: Auckland, NZ, 1997.
First published by Barry Crump Associates Ltd, 1988.

A collection of short stories and poems by Crump. Some elements are a little dated/offensive by modern standards, but otherwise they are an interesting mix of stories, covering a lot more genres than I expected. 

'Warm Beer' is a ghost story with a punch of an ending. 'That Way' is a dark drama involving a ruthless man quick to kill his pets. 'Cave' is a slightly supernatural poem involving possible time travel. More than one story has a protagonist contemplating, if not outright committing murder! 

And of course, there are a number of the humorous slice-of-rural-life yarns that Crump was well known for. My favourites include 'Overheard in the Pub' which tells a shaggy dog story about a live fish being transported in a four-gallon kerosene tin through the outback, 'Double Scotch', in which the protagonist believes his publican has had a mental breakdown, and 'Country Correspondent', in which a city-slicker must put up with the lethargic pace of a rural taxi-driver. 

Some of the stories are hits, while others are misses - which is pretty standard for short story collections. But the 'hits' do make this collection worthwhile checking out, particularly for fans of Barry Crump.

Completed 18 December 2023.

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