Off the Record: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

A satirical novel by Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlisted author Craig Sherborne, Off the Record stylishly skewers tabloid journalism and male vanity. Callum Smith - Wordsmith, Words for short - is a newspaper journalist of the old school. He knows how to write a story that sings, knows all the tricks of the tabloid trade. And he likes to drink with his colleagues, sometimes to flirt dangerously with young women. When his marriage blows up after a night of drinking goes way too far, Words is forced to leave the family home. Desperate to impress his estranged wife and feckless teenage son, he quits his job, taking a pay cut to work with a new online publication covering local crime. There the plum role of editor will soon be his, he reasons. To Words, 'Honesty is a thief - it steals your life.' Better to do whatever it takes to get back in someone's good books. And that is what he sets out to do, in a series of ever more calamitous, destructive and amoral adventures. Will the irredeemable Words win back his family Or is comeuppance around the corner

Reviews

Sharp, taut and sizzlingly mean, Off The Record paints a biting portrait of a hard-boiled hack you would not want on your backIt is an expertly crafted almost-satire, that, though billed as dark comedy, is a cautionary tale about the true cost of selling your professional and creative soul, and of unbridled vanity. Ruthlessly riveting. * Herald Sun *

`Ambiguous, funny, and refreshingly unwise.

* Monthly *
`Off the Record, a page-turner so scorching it makes realism seem like a form of pornography, is about sensationalist and exploitative journalismThe narrator is such a supreme wordsmith, as Sherborne was and is, that he is known as Words, and boy can he use them as acid and anthrax in the worlds water supplyIt is part of Sherbornes genius its not too big a word to revile and deconstruct every tabernacle of good tastePacy, sleek, muscledA mesmerising portrait of how a creep of a guy (who can look very much like you or me) can weave a web in which he finds himself. -- Peter Craven * Australian *
`This novel is a demonstration of Sherbornes virtuosity as a writer. * Australian Book Review *
`Off the Record is a deliciously droll satire. * ANZ LitLovers *
`Monstrous yet moving. * New Zealand Herald *
`A satirical romp through the seedy undergrowth of a headline hunter. * North & South *
`Certain of his skewed world view, theres a perverse delight in watching Words work, and an even greater one in watching him unravelA smug satire of old school journalism and male pride. * AU Review *
`Callum Words Smith is an egocentric, chauvinistic, manipulative scumbag: a detestable man. But he is a brilliant characterHe is a terrible person but somehow you find yourself rooting for him. It is a tribute to Craig Sherborne, who has created a character embodying all that is wrong with journalism, yet made him human enough to be likeable. It is grounded in the humour the author employsSherborne, a former journalist, sheds light on the industry with comedy and subtle sensitivity. * Otago Daily Times *
`Reading this novel is like watching a rabbit caught in the headlights of a vehicle. Theres an awful fascination, almost a voyeuristic delight, in watching a man dig himself deeper into a hole of amoral sensationalism. * Good Reading *

Author Bio

Craig Sherbornes memoir Hoi Polloi (2005) was shortlisted for the Queensland Premiers and Victorian Premiers Literary Awards. The follow-up, Muck (2007), won the Queensland Premiers Literary Award for Non-fiction. Craigs first novel, The Amateur Science of Love (2011), won the Melbourne Prize for Literatures Best Writing Award, and was shortlisted for a Victorian Premiers Literary Award and a NSW Premiers Literary Award. His second novel, Tree Palace (2014), was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.
Craig has also written two volumes of poetry, Bullion (1995) and Necessary Evil (2005), and a verse drama, Look at Everything Twice for Me (1999). He lives outside Melbourne.