Up a Hollow Log

Master storyteller Ryle Winn learnt his craft in the backblocks, experimented with it in the public bar and honed it in between musters and sale yards. In Ryle's third collection of true tales, read how ordinary situations can turn into mayhem at the drop of a hat. Meet an ute-load of wayward working dogs, a horse and rider that would do The Man from Snowy River proud and an opportunistic elephant outwitting a truck driver. And if that's not enough, there's always the wedding anniversary shared with a couple of bogged cows two hundred metres from dry land...You'll bust a gut laughing, you'll be left incredulous, you might even shed a tear or two. But most of all, you'll be glad you took the time to join Ryle Winn in celebrating man's best friend - and other creatures from the bush and beyond.

R. M. Winn is one of those blokes who never cave in. No matter how serious the situation, he hauls it out front and deals with it, hard and fast - no ifs or buts. Not even a malignant brain tumour could lay him in his tracks. He is totally self-reliant, lacks reverence, doesn't yet know what 'political correctness' means, talks no bullshit - or not much - and won't listen to any, laughs at himself easily and at others more easily. For thirty-five years he was a leading rural valuer and much sought-after professional court witness but just as often preferred cane-cutting, chasing scrubber cattle, running brumbies, timber-getting and driving trucks around the backblocks. He has a swag of books to his credit, including the self-published High Tides and Hard Rides, When a Tree Falls and Behind the Bike Shed and the Penguin-published Rough Diamonds and Real Gems, True Grit and Dry Wit, Out of the Blue and Up a Hollow Log. So that's the bloke - take him or leave him, but when the going gets tough, line up beside him and you'll be right.