{"product_id":"9781922253798","title":"The Rules of Backyard Cricket","description":"\u003cp\u003e It starts in a suburban backyard with Darren Keefe and his older brother, sons of a fierce and gutsy single mother. The endless glow of summer, the bottomless fury of contest. All the love and hatred in two small bodies poured into the rules of a made-up game.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Darren has two big talents: cricket and trouble. No surprise that he becomes an Australian sporting star of the bad-boy variety—one of those men who’s always got away with things and just keeps getting.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Until the day we meet him, middle aged, in the boot of a car. Gagged, cable-tied, a bullet in his knee. Everything pointing towards a shallow grave.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Rules of Backyard Cricket \u003c\/i\u003eis a novel of suspense in the tradition of Peter Temple’s \u003ci\u003eTruth\u003c\/i\u003e. With glorious writing harnessed to a gripping narrative, it observes celebrity, masculinity—humanity—with clear-eyed lyricism and exhilarating narrative drive. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eJock Serong\u003c\/b\u003e lives and works on the far southwest coast of Victoria. Formerly a lawyer, he is now a features writer, and was the editor of\u003ci\u003e Great Ocean Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e.  His first novel, \u003ci\u003eQuota\u003c\/i\u003e, won the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Novel. His most recent novel is \u003ci\u003eThe Rules of Backyard Cricket\u003c\/i\u003e. Jock is married with four children and lives in Port Fairy, Victoria. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e ‘\u003ci\u003eThe Rules of Backyard Cricket\u003c\/i\u003e by Jock Serong, while classified as ‘crime’, is a compelling literary novel dissecting toxic sporting culture and its fallout.’ \u003cb\u003ePaddy O’Reilly, \u003ci\u003eAustralian Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e, 2016 Books of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e ‘\u003ci\u003eThe Rules of Backyard Cricket \u003c\/i\u003egot the thumbs up from everyone.’ \u003cb\u003eFavourite Fiction for 2016, \u003ci\u003eAvenue Bookstore\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e ‘My favourite reading experience of the year (and I don’t even like cricket).’ \u003cb\u003eHeather Taylor Johnson, \u003ci\u003eSydney Morning Herald\u003c\/i\u003e’s Year in Reading\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e ‘Blow me down if I didn’t hang on every word.’ \u003cb\u003eClare Wright, Best Books of 2016, \u003ci\u003eAustralian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e ‘One of the great novels written about sport…Delicious. It’s the top read of the summer.’ \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eStuff NZ\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e ‘A deeply interesting novel about sibling rivalry, family, masculinity, and the game of cricket…Serong is a talented storyteller, and he brings this unusual world to life.’ \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eBooklist \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Text Publishing Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47154168070384,"sku":"9781922253798","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781922253798_p0.jpg?v=1763634066","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781922253798","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}