One Hundred Years of Dirt

An incredible personal story of outback life, the difficulties facing single parent households, the impacts of drug addiction and a young gay man coming of age, combined with razor sharp analysis of class in modern Australia.

The cover reviews would suggest Morton was the new Australian Hemingway. Far from it. They do have a shared occupation as a journalis, but that's where the comparisons end. This memoir suffers from the blight of contemporary journalism, it's opinion dressed up as analysis, and poorly informed at that. I perservered to the end, but I'm not sure why I bothered. What do I know about Morton as a result of reading his memoir? He says he's gay but he reveals nothing of his emotional journey or relationships. He decries inequalities in Australian society with a junior high school insight into social class. He lived off the earnings from helping rich kids cheat in their University assessments, but that's OK because he needed the money. He earned loads of money working as a journalist but blew it all while bemoaning the awful poverty his mother endured. Apparently there's a follow up. I shan't be bothering.