ie They are NOT coming from overseas !!
Gone Fishin'
- By Nino Culotta -
Illustrated with line drawings by 'WEP'
ISBN:
Publisher: Ure Smith, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia
Published: 1962
Binding: HARDcover with Dustjacket 244 pages
Condition: UNread & displayed condition! HERE in MELBOURNE! A retired display
copy as illustrated!
Edition: FIRST EDITION: 6th printing August 1963
TIGHT, SCARCE HARDCOVER WITH DUSTJACKET ~ IN MELBOURNE ...
WHY do ebayers buy from US?
Because you KNOW what you're getting. My close up photos are of the actual item!!
Remains UNread - it was the display copy instore . It is Tight - neat, no inscriptions or marks within. Appears as in my photos - this is the exact copy!! A nicely preserved copy - superb!
No discernible shelf wear to the jade green pictorial boards, the interior is tight and spotlessly clean with 224 pages - very slight age toning to paper. Illustrated endpapers. THIS copy is the FIRST EDITION: stated sixth impression from January 1963 - the Australian publishing by Ure Smith, Sydney
There are many black and white line drawing illustrations by 'wep'.
SCARCE title - this is an UNread copy!!
In original illustrated boards HARDcover binding, and housed in the publisher's dustjacket, price-clipped, which are in very good condition generally, some underside repair. The Dustjacket reads .. .. Titled “ Gone Fishin’ ,” netted by Nino Culotta , scaled by “Wep”, with numerous illustrations and endpapers decorated with fishing illustrations. It was published ungutted by Ure Smith, of Sydney, in August, 1963.
(Stored with 2021!)
Measures approx. 8 x 5 inches or 21 x 13cms
SYNOPSIS ....
The second in the 'Nino Culotta' series - More adventures of the "Italian" journalist in Australia Nino Culotta (John O'Grady, 1907-81).
Gone Fishin' (1962) is about where Nino, suffering from nervous exhaustion, leaves building for the life of a professional fisherman, fishing the Georges River. The novel Gone Fishin' is the only novel not to feature the main characters from the first two books, Joe, Edie and Dennis as primary characters. They finally appear onwards from chapter 11 (page 162), and Dennis finally gets engaged.
Nino (a.k.a. John O’Grady) has become an Australian instead of an Italian since his arrival in Sydney. Nino has often been called a mullet, sometimes even a prawn-headed mullet. But he doesn’t know anything about fishing, until he gets a license and starts learning the ropes from ‘Shorty’ Bent. This isn’t weekend amateur angling – all ‘wet arse and no fish’; this is professional fishing, with nets, sea-boots and oilskins; shooting a double-header on a favourite dig at slack water in the starlight; picking up and unmeshing; icing down the fish on the foreshore and sharing a ‘crack o’ the whip’ (rum) with other fishermen. Despite all the regulations and nuisances of inspectors, Nino finds it a great life! Scaled by the famous and fabulous ‘Wep’.
About the Author
John Patrick O'Grady, pen name Nino Culotta (1907–1981) was an Australian writer. His works include the comic novel They're a Weird Mob - a novel that formed a social commentary on Australian society of the period - of which Gone Fishin’ was a sequel.
Very Entertaining read!
Reviews
HILARIOUS DELIGHTFUL!!! …. Funnier, better written and superior in almost every way superior to O'Grady's iconic They're A Weird Mob. It does, however, lack much of the social commentary of Weird Mob, which is why Gone Fishin' is virtually unknown by comparison.
Back in 2012 I followed in O'Grady's footsteps and visited all the places he mentions in this novel 40 years on. I even tracked down the son of the publican, McConkey, who still lived in Bodalla.
A fun read … Gone Fishin’ is the third book in the Nino Culotta series by John O’Grady. The building trade is in a slump and Nino has been told by a Macquarie Street specialist to take a year off and go fishing. Never one to do things by halves, Nino meets up with Shorty Bent and fairly soon has a fishing licence and is learning from the master, his friend, Old George, Shorty’s brother, Tich and Shorty’s Old Man. Once Nino gets the hang of net fishing, there’s a trip down the South Coast and a visit from his building mates, Joe and Dennis. This delightful book features absolutely no political correctness (OK to call blackfish niggers), although O’Grady does get a few words in about the effects of the A Bomb, the H bomb and Sputnik on climate change. Dealing with government departments gets a good serve, and the illogicality of legal sizes and legal nets also draws plenty of discussion; nonetheless, the Fishing Inspector comes out as a reasonable fellow. There is plenty of drinking, fishing and smoking in this one, as well as an engagement and a fight. Once again, O’Grady asserts the friendliness and loyalty of Aussie mates, and it is difficult to believe that the Mullet Marketing Board has not had input into this volume. A fun read.
FISHIN' with the old bloke! .... John O'Grady was unique among modern social commentators. Although raised in a rural environment, his return to Sydney sparked some deeper insight. When he began writing, it was to capture a picture of the city at its roots. His books, an "autobiographical" series purporting to be written by travelling journalist "Nino Culotta", have become Australian classics. When this one was published, the novelty had faded, but O'Grady's style had lost nothing from the passage of time. This book isn't to be compared to the earlier works by "Nino", but is simply an extension of his adventures but in another milieu.
In this book he's retained the Nino identity. Directed by his doctor to rest from the intensity of the building trade, he joins a mate, Shorty, fishing the river. Fishing at night, the fisherman teaches Nino all the tricks from finding the fish to dealing with the authorities. Nino, always a quick learner, becomes adept at the trade. Nino meets other fishermen and Shorty's father, an irascible old codger. O'Grady's portrayal of the Old Man is superb, while Shorty himself is a composite of several individuals. Adding to the fun is the introduction of Nino's building trade mates to the fishermen. Those knowing Joe and Dennis, Nino's builder friends will encounter a welcome and unexpected surprise at the end of this book.
A GREAT FUN READ! .... O'Grady's books are classics for good reasons. He's always observant, witty and informative. While he's capturing a time and place in each account, there are reasons why his work will remain of interest for many years. In part, because the narrative demonstrates vividly what the Australian language has lost with the introduction of American-dominated global communications. His sense of humanity reaches beyond any limited locale in time or place and can find a welcome almost anywhere. Nino's expressions of humble acceptance, particularly of things imparted by those more knowledgeable, strongly reflects O'Grady's own outlook. It's an object lesson for us all.
Novel characters ... The continuing adventures of Nino Culotta as he takes up fishing. His doctor told him to relax and take some time off to get well and Nino tackles that like everything else in Australia. He works for a professional fisherman and gets a license to fish with nets. I enjoyed meeting new characters and of course the intrusion of his builder friends.
FUNNY STORY .. If you like fishing or want to hear about someone else learning to fish, you'd probably like this more than I did. It had some really funny stories, but the actual fishing knowledge bored me a bit.
VERY FUNNY! ... Nino Culotta was the invention of Australian author John Patrick O'Grady. Nino was an Italian journalist whose first job in Australia was that of a builder's labourer. His school English was understood by his new mates but their lingo was unintelligible to him. Gone Fishing is one of a series which began with They're a Weird Mob. Very amusing. An easy read with delightful characters.
It's a work of its time. ….Most challenging in this respect was its frivolous use of a particular word describing black fish and the whole premise of an Irish-Australian author writing from an Italian immigrant point of view. The latter is ironically used to self-congratulate Australian settlers' attitudes and characters.
If you can set all that aside, I found some of the situations described to be entertaining insights into the lives of blue-collar Australians of the 60s. Also, I can't decide if my new favourite word which I will never be able to use (macrifluvious) is real or fiction.
ONLINE observation ... We barbecued almost every night and I took to reading anything I could about Australian fishing. Quite by accident, I came across Gone Fishin’ (and later on, They’re a Weird Mob) by Nino Culotta. This turned out to be like a little crystal ball for my future, not to mention a solid education into ethnic diversity.
I’m not sure I really understood those books, but I loved them; not truly understanding that what I took to be a literary caricature of Australian life, was simply factual observation by a very clever man. It was only later that I found out Nino Culotta was really John O’Grady. In Gone Fishin’, he talked about commercial fishing on the George’s River in Sydney, and his fishing adventures on the South Coast, his dealings with fishing inspectors, and his love of mullet.
Marvellous Reading!
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