Author(s): Apirana Taylor

NZ Fiction

Mack is a larger-than-life street philosopher and Puti's a former gang member looking for something more. Together, they're at the bottom of the heap. They live out their lives in a haze of smoke and alcohol, accompanied by a host of other characters scraping by on the fringes of society. Will any of them be redeemed? A poignant and humorous love story by distinguished Maori writer Apirana Taylor.

The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the rest are getting squeezed in between - and there's an election coming up. It seems we'd rather take the moral high ground when the issue of poverty arises, as Metiria Turei found out. Apirana Taylor confronts the issue face on in this impressive novel. Mack and Puti are embodiments of the consequence of poverty. They live for the welfare cheque from week to week and spend it all on booze and drugs.
Like watching the proverbial slow motion train wreck, I struggled initially - but the writing is good. Mack and Puti are very human and the lives that have led them to this state are slowly revealed. This writer gets my vote. David