‘Barry was never a father to me, but he did become a friend.’—Martin Crump
Barry Crump was a titan of New Zealand writing, his semi-autobiographical novels about life as a rugged outdoorsman selling millions of copies. In his time, he was held up as the quintessential Kiwi bloke.
He was also an unscrupulous brute, womaniser, alcoholic and absentee husband. And he was the father of six children – all of them boys.
For Ivan, Martin, Stephen, Harry, Erik and Lyall, Barry has always been an enigma that casts a strange shadow over their lives. This is their story – the first time they’ve all gone on record together about their father.
Published 25 years after Barry’s death, Sons of a Good Keen Man offers straight-and-true anecdotes that grip, entertain, surprise and even provoke a few laughs. Each son writes frankly and movingly about how they have navigated life with and without Barry.
Illuminating, essential, at times confronting, and containing never-seen-before photos, Sons of a Good Keen Man is a timely reflection on fatherhood and identity, the legacy of trauma, and how time can both heal and ask new questions.
