Author(s): Alan Duff

Literary biography | New Zealand Literature

Alan Duff is the author of the bestselling Once Were Warriors, One Night Out Stealing, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? and Both Sides of the Moon, and here for the first time is the true story of this controversial writer's life. This memoir is the story of a talented but tormented child surrounded by violence and alcohol abuse. He bucked authority, ran away from a broken home, experienced incarceration in a boy's home, borstal and eventually, as a young man, entanglement with real criminals in England. Then there is the return home and a remarkable recovery to become not only New Zealand's bestselling novelist, but also a spokesperson for underprivileged New Zealanders, a widely read columnist and the initiator of the brilliantly successful Books in Homes scheme. This is a moving and honest account of a challenging and eventful life by one of New Zealand's most outspoken personalities. Trade Paperback