Wake In Fright by Kenneth Cook

Wake In Fright by Kenneth Cook, first published in 1961, have achieved a cult status as the Australian answer to US and UK novels of 1960s youthful alienation. Though it is only 174 pages in length, it packs a powerful punch.

It is the gruelling story of John Grant, a young  bonded schoolteacher on his way back from the remote township of Tiboonda in New South Wales to Sydney for a six-week Christmas holidays when things start to go horribly wrong.

He catches  a train to the mining town of Bundanyabba for an overnight stay before his flight home to Sydney the next day. After too many drinks, the intoxicated Grant makes an ill-advised visit to a two-up school, a gambling den, where he loses almost all of his money. Left with only a few shillings and no money to buy his airfare to Sydney, his life descends into a nightmare and an increasing self-loathing and desperation. In a state of stupor, he attempts suicide with a shot to his head. He fails to kill himself.

This fast-paced and relentless novel is an unadorned blow to the senses. It is hailed as  the original and the greatest outback horror story.