I'd Rather Not
Author: Skinner, Robert
ISBN: 9781760640354
Publisher: Black Inc
Year first published: 04 Jul 2023
Pages: 176
Format: Paperback / softback
b>From one of Australia's most wryly funny writers comes an original and utterly hilarious memoir of reaching for the stars while lying in a ditch./b>BR>BR>i>I was sleeping in what might reasonably be described as a ditch, though I tried not to think of it in those terms for morale reasons . . ./i>br>br>Robert Skinner arrives in the city, searching for a richer life. Things begin badly and then, surprisingly, get slightly worse. Pretty soon he's sleeping rough and trying to run a literary magazine out of a dog park. His quest for meaning keeps being thwarted, by endless jobs, beagles, house parties, ill-advised love affairs, camel trips and bureaucratic entanglements.br>br>Sometimes a book catches the spirit of the times. i>I'd Rather Not/i> is about work, escape and that something more we all need.br>br>i>Winner of the John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing and the People's Choice Award at the 2025 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards./i>br>br>i>Shortlisted in the Australian Book Industry Awards 2024 and the South Australian Literary Awards 2024/i>br>br>'I was told this man came from the Adelaide Plains and so commenced to read his work. By the time I realised I'd been viciously misled and he actually grew up in Magill, it was too late. I was already completely in love with the book. It's an absolute bag of lollies.' -b>Annabel Crabb /b>br>br>'Robert Skinner writes with humour, intelligence and heart. Pick up this book and you may never put it down.' -b>Tony Birch/b>br>br>'This book is like a big, properly made gin and tonic drunk outside in a garden on a perfect Saturday afternoon.' -b>Cate Kennedy/b>br>br>'...no other book brought me as much joy as this hilarious and deceptively artful collection, and in these uncertain times that is worth plenty.' -b>Michael Winkler/b>br>br>'No one writes better when the stakes are lower.' -b>Sam Vincent/b>br>br>'My heart leaps whenever I see Robert Skinner's by-line; I know I am in for a hilarious literary treat complete with wry pearlers, gallows truths and wicked timing. People will say he is Australia's Sedaris, but he's not. He's Robert Skinner and he's a bloody marvel.' -b>Anna Krien/b>br>br>'Brevity may be the soul of wit, but the nimble economy of this slim volume will make readers pine for more. A decidedly skewed, hilarious collection of life reflections and colorful storytelling.' -b>i>Kirkus/i>/b>br>br>'Seriously the funniest book I've read all year. I can't stop thinking about Robert Skinner's forays into the most mundane and frustrating aspects of life - Centrelink, being a tour guide, applying for arts funding - and the shameless truths he not only reveals about himself but about us as a society. Read this book with a bottle of wine, and be alarmed and enlightened!' -b>Alice Pung/b> br>br>'If only all books were as funny, human and true as i>I'd Rather Not/i>. I raced through it, marvelling and envious all the way.' -b>Michelle de Kretser/b> br>br>'Skinner has been compared to Oscar Wilde, but his book is as self-effacing as it is quip-witted.' b>-Beejay Silcox,i> The Guardian/i> 'The best Australian books of 2023'/b>br>br>'Skinner has been called the Australian David Sedaris and it's easy to see why. Both have the same droll, self-deprecating humour and both mine their own lives for maximum mirth-making potential. ... a book with a several-laughs-a-page quotient.' -b>Thuy On, i>Arts Hub/i>/b>br>b>i>br>/i>/b>'The funniest book I have read for a long time' b>-Andy Griffiths, author of i>The Treehouse/i> series./b>
ISBN: 9781760640354
Publisher: Black Inc
Year first published: 04 Jul 2023
Pages: 176
Format: Paperback / softback
b>From one of Australia's most wryly funny writers comes an original and utterly hilarious memoir of reaching for the stars while lying in a ditch./b>BR>BR>i>I was sleeping in what might reasonably be described as a ditch, though I tried not to think of it in those terms for morale reasons . . ./i>br>br>Robert Skinner arrives in the city, searching for a richer life. Things begin badly and then, surprisingly, get slightly worse. Pretty soon he's sleeping rough and trying to run a literary magazine out of a dog park. His quest for meaning keeps being thwarted, by endless jobs, beagles, house parties, ill-advised love affairs, camel trips and bureaucratic entanglements.br>br>Sometimes a book catches the spirit of the times. i>I'd Rather Not/i> is about work, escape and that something more we all need.br>br>i>Winner of the John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing and the People's Choice Award at the 2025 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards./i>br>br>i>Shortlisted in the Australian Book Industry Awards 2024 and the South Australian Literary Awards 2024/i>br>br>'I was told this man came from the Adelaide Plains and so commenced to read his work. By the time I realised I'd been viciously misled and he actually grew up in Magill, it was too late. I was already completely in love with the book. It's an absolute bag of lollies.' -b>Annabel Crabb /b>br>br>'Robert Skinner writes with humour, intelligence and heart. Pick up this book and you may never put it down.' -b>Tony Birch/b>br>br>'This book is like a big, properly made gin and tonic drunk outside in a garden on a perfect Saturday afternoon.' -b>Cate Kennedy/b>br>br>'...no other book brought me as much joy as this hilarious and deceptively artful collection, and in these uncertain times that is worth plenty.' -b>Michael Winkler/b>br>br>'No one writes better when the stakes are lower.' -b>Sam Vincent/b>br>br>'My heart leaps whenever I see Robert Skinner's by-line; I know I am in for a hilarious literary treat complete with wry pearlers, gallows truths and wicked timing. People will say he is Australia's Sedaris, but he's not. He's Robert Skinner and he's a bloody marvel.' -b>Anna Krien/b>br>br>'Brevity may be the soul of wit, but the nimble economy of this slim volume will make readers pine for more. A decidedly skewed, hilarious collection of life reflections and colorful storytelling.' -b>i>Kirkus/i>/b>br>br>'Seriously the funniest book I've read all year. I can't stop thinking about Robert Skinner's forays into the most mundane and frustrating aspects of life - Centrelink, being a tour guide, applying for arts funding - and the shameless truths he not only reveals about himself but about us as a society. Read this book with a bottle of wine, and be alarmed and enlightened!' -b>Alice Pung/b> br>br>'If only all books were as funny, human and true as i>I'd Rather Not/i>. I raced through it, marvelling and envious all the way.' -b>Michelle de Kretser/b> br>br>'Skinner has been compared to Oscar Wilde, but his book is as self-effacing as it is quip-witted.' b>-Beejay Silcox,i> The Guardian/i> 'The best Australian books of 2023'/b>br>br>'Skinner has been called the Australian David Sedaris and it's easy to see why. Both have the same droll, self-deprecating humour and both mine their own lives for maximum mirth-making potential. ... a book with a several-laughs-a-page quotient.' -b>Thuy On, i>Arts Hub/i>/b>br>b>i>br>/i>/b>'The funniest book I have read for a long time' b>-Andy Griffiths, author of i>The Treehouse/i> series./b>
