I'd Rather Not

There are only so many words to describe a book I truly enjoyed. For this one, I choose "f*cking hilarious."
Loved Robert Skinner's humor and wit, and also the insights he shares about life in Australia, tours through the outback, and — how can we ever forget — life under lockdown (Down Under edition).

Like many story collections, certain pieces resonated with me while others fell short. Nonetheless, I found myself laughing out loud at times and this book brightened a rainy weekend. Looking forward to reading more by Robert Skinner.

Thanks to NetGalley and Steerforth Press for the ARC!

"I'd Rather Not" by Robert Skinner sounds like a delightful collection of autobiographical tales that promise to entertain readers with humor, wit, and a dose of self-deprecating charm. Skinner's journey from a series of diverse and often comically failed careers, such as a dishwasher, tour guide, cabinet maker, bus driver, bookseller, and literary journal publisher, provides the perfect backdrop for humorous reflections on life's unexpected twists and turns.

The book's premise, of an individual searching for a richer life but continually encountering beagles, bureaucrats, and ill-advised love affairs along the way, sets the stage for amusing anecdotes and insights. Skinner's ability to find humor in the midst of adversity and to offer a wryly subversive perspective on the challenges of work, escape, and the pursuit of something more, is likely to resonate with readers who appreciate humor essayists like Sloane Crosley, Jenny Lawson, Samantha Irby, and David Sedaris.

The diverse range of experiences and misadventures that Skinner encounters, from sleeping rough to trying to run a literary magazine in a dog park, promises an entertaining and relatable read. The book's format, consisting of 14 essays and stories that can be savored individually or binge-read, offers flexibility for readers to enjoy the content at their own pace.

"I'd Rather Not" appears to be a book that captures the humor in life's challenges and invites readers to join in on a series of misadventures that are sure to leave them both amused and reflective. It's an ideal choice for those seeking a light-hearted yet thought-provoking read that explores the quirks and absurdities of the human experience.

This is a funny collection of stories about the author's life. It begins with a tale of collecting unemployment compensation and the challenges of remaining unemployed and ends with tales from the author's time as a guide in the Australian Outback. In between, there's a lot of rants about bureaucracy, because that's always tragically amusing.

I enjoyed reading these essays. There were some laugh-out-loud phraseology and happenings as well as some intriguing thought processes on display throughout.

Pretty good. Humor can be very difficult to pull off, but Skinner has his moments. This covers a good amount of subjects, and the author writes well.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

I heard the author on a podcast and he made me laugh our loud, so I was keen to read this book.

The book also made me laugh out loud.

It’s shorter than I expected and a pretty quick read, but sometimes that’s ok. I really enjoyed it.

3.5~4★
“I retired when I was twenty-eight years old, but ran out of money the same afternoon, so I caught a bus to the dole office. My feeling about unemployment was: Someone’s gotta do it. Why not me? The pay was lousy, but I’d heard the hours were good.”

This is the opening of the first essay and a good example of the conversational style of most of the pieces. Each is like reading a letter from an old friend, or perhaps the friend of a friend about whom you’ve heard many anecdotes. You just know he’s done something wrong, brought the wrath of someone down on himself, and is trying to win you over to his side with self-deprecating charm.

I have to admit, he’s pretty good at it. The title of the opening essay is “War and Peace”, because he’d promised himself he was going to read it before he found work. Relax a little, take in the sights.

So off he went to Centrelink, ‘the dole office’, to apply for Newstart, the Australian support payment for the unemployed, or jobseekers, while they are looking for “a new start” in life. Both the program and the name have gone through countless iterations, but all have required variations on the theme of proving you’re actively applying for jobs.

“‘Whoa,’ I said. ‘This isn’t the kind of Newstart I had in mind at all.’

I had only just moved to Melbourne. It was a place filled with magic and possibility. I wanted to meet interesting people at rooftop bars. I wanted to read Russian novels. What I didn’t want was a pesky job, but try telling that to your dole officer.”

The subjects and topics vary as much as his jobs and activities, which gives him a lot of choice.

He agrees to go with his parents on a ten-day trek with camels in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Sure, why not? As he’s on his way to meet them, his father rings him with a shopping request, and they chat.

“I asked how far we’d be riding all up. There was a moment’s silence.

‘We’re not riding, mate. They’re wagon camels.’

We would be walking, said my dad. Next to the camels, and for 25 kilometres a day. He paused.

‘You have been training, haven’t you?’

I said yes, in the sense that I’d managed to keep my legs in pretty much mint/unused condition. I started to panic.

‘I thought I was supposed to be practising sitting down.’”

He did get through the trek as well as other miscalculated adventures, as I think of them. Hitchhiking with a group of dodgy people was a particularly bad idea.

One good idea, but one that was probably destined to eventually fall through the cracks was when he and friends founded a literary magazine. Like all literary magazines, it took a lot of work, dedication, and promotion. Like many, it stumbled along and finally folded, but it was obviously successful enough that many years later, he was invited by a university to speak about ‘How to Make It in Business’

“I was one of three speakers. We were speaking to an auditorium of about a hundred high-school graduates, all of them prospective arts students, and we were meant to persuade them to take up an education in the arts. I did some rough calculations. If we succeeded in convincing all of them, then Melbourne University stood to make about $4 million in revenue. We, the speakers, weren’t being paid anything. It was a Ponzi scheme alright, but we weren’t at the top.”

It really is a Ponzi scheme, isn’t it?

He enjoyed at least pretending to be at the top in “Stopover”, where he spent a wonderful time imagining being wealthy as he mingled with other travellers during a 12-hour stopover in Singapore. He power-walked through the airport, because, as he says “If you want to look accomplished, that’s how you do it.”

I remember the feeling well from past travels alone. You can be anybody in a big airport, particularly an international one. Nobody knows where you came from or where you’re going.

[Pro tip: I have a friend who says she always wears professional outfits when flying, because when they bump people up to business or first class (if they need more seats in cattle class), they choose people who look like they belong there.]

He writes about the pandemic, about a running feud with the government about a supposed debt he owed, and about “The Art of Tour Guiding”, probably my favourite section, because I know someone who’s done this. Some of his tricks for dealing with the mixed bunch of tourists every driver-guide is faced with are very funny – and a good idea.

He can be philosophical and poetic when he dares to stop being funny.

“The last hour before sundown is a beautiful time in the outback, Uluru or no. A sudden aching softness comes to a landscape that just five minutes ago seemed barren and unrelenting. I always felt beers were important at a time like this because you wanted everyone to slow down for what was going on. You could tell the nondrinkers because they were impatient for something to happen, when in fact it was happening all around them: breezes stirring the desert oaks, lizards emerging from clumps of spinifex, colours changing and the whole sky deepening into night.”

I started reading this straight through but was interrupted. When I went back to it, I realised I would enjoy them more individually, very much as if I were getting a letter from a friend, one at a time. It’s much more entertaining that way. I could see these as columns in newspapers or magazines. I don’t know if he’s tried that job yet.

Thanks to #NetGalley and Steerforth Press for the preview copy of #IdRatherNot from which I’ve quoted.

Quirky is the most apt word I can find to describe this collection of essays. In other words, unique in their voice and singular in their presentation of novel ideas and interesting observations on life and the world around us. A must-read.