One Hundred Years of Dirt

By: Rick Morton

Narrated by: Rick Morton

Social mobility is not a train you get to board after you've scraped together enough for the ticket. You have to build the whole bloody engine, with nothing but a spoon and hand-me-down psychological distress.

Violence, treachery and cruelty run through the generational veins of Rick Morton's family. A horrific accident thrusts his mother and siblings into a world impossible for them to navigate, a life of poverty and drug addiction. One Hundred Years of Dirt is an unflinching memoir in which the mother is a hero who is never rewarded. It is a meditation on the anger, fear of others and an obsession with real and imagined borders. Yet it is also a testimony to the strength of familial love and endurance.

2019, Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Biography of the Year, Long-listed

2019, Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year, Long-listed

©2018 Rick Morton (P)2019 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

'I think it's terrific and I was very moved by it.' (Tim Winton)

'One Hundred Years of Dirt had me spellbound from the get-go. Morton is a crack storyteller and his words and stories are infused with genuine compassion. It's a magnificent book, the clarity of it is inspiring.' (Christos Tsiolkas, award-winning author of The Slap)

'... a compelling family saga, cataloguing violence and aggression stretching across generations.' (The Sydney Morning Herald)

Not my kind of book.

Narration was hard to understand. Used far too many F words. Did not finish.