Robert Skinner

From one of Australia's most wryly funny writers comes an original and utterly hilarious memoir of reaching for the stars while lying in a ditch 'No one writes better when the stakes are lower.' —Sam Vincent, author of My Father and Other Animals Quiet Quitting. The Great Resignation. Sometimes a literary sensibility catches the spirit of the times. In I'd Rather Not, Robert Skinner has it all covered. This wonderful book of adventures (and misadventures) in the art of living is wryly subversive and constantly hilarious. It is about work, escape and that something more we all need. 'I was sleeping in what might reasonably be described as a ditch, though I tried not to think of it in those terms for morale reasons ...' Robert Skinner arrives in the city, searching for a richer life. Things begin badly and then, surprisingly, get slightly worse. Pretty soon he's sleeping rough and trying to run a literary magazine out of a dog park. His quest for meaning keeps being thwarted, by gainful employment, beagles, house parties, ill-advised love affairs, camel trips and bureaucratic entanglements. I'd Rather Not is a deeply funny book of light and shade, triumph and misadventure, where the wisdom is hard-won and promptly forgotten. Yet even when his ventures fail, Robert Skinner succeeds, always, in delighting readers. For fans of Sloane Crosley, Andrew Sean Greer, Nathan Fielder and David Sedaris.

I'd Rather Not

An endlessly entertaining collection of wayward autobiographical tales about a search for a richer life thwarted at every turn by beagles, bureaucrats, and ill-advised love affairs The unlikely story of how a failed dishwasher, tour guide, cabinet maker, bus driver, bookseller and literary journal publisher became one of Australia's hottest humor essayists Perfect for fans of humorous, thought-provoking authors like Sloane Crosley, Jenny Lawson, Samantha Irby, and David Sedaris This wryly subversive book of adventures (and misadventures) offers an original and utterly hilarious take on work, escape, and that something more we all need. Robert Skinner arrives in the city, searching for a richer life. Things begin badly and then, surprisingly, get slightly worse. Pretty soon he's sleeping rough and trying to run a literary magazine out of a dog park. His quest for meaning keeps being thwarted, by gainful employment, house parties, ill-advised love affairs, camel trips, and bureaucratic entanglements. The book's 14 essays/stories can be savored one at a time, or binge read: War and Peace The Perfect Host Cinderella Pays the Rent Lessons from Camels How to Make It in Business The Stopover Kings of Sweden House Party Car Sick I Fought the Law Always Coming Home The Art of Tour Guiding A Fisherman’s Lament Epilogue: Dying Art of Hitchhiking Robert's distinctive voice possesses uncommon immediacy, at once humorous and soulful, self-effacing and wise. Perhaps most important of all, he is endlessly entertaining.

Robert Skinner

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