One Night Out Stealing

By: Alan Duff

Narrated by: Liam Titheridge

Boys' homes, borstal, jail, stealing, then jail again – and again. That's been life for Jube and Sonny. One Pakeha, the other Maori, only vaguely aware of life beyond pubs and their hopeless cronies.

Then, one night out stealing, the two small-time hoods chance upon the home of a wealthy Wellington lawyer …

The ensuing events unfold with stark brutality amidst a seldom-seen New Zealand cityscape of littered streets, crowded highways and noisy smoke-filled bars – a world of inarticulate turmoil that Jube and Sonny are unlikely to ever escape.

Content warning: Contains strong violence and/or strong language. Listener discretion advised.

©1992 Alan Duff Creative Limited (P)2025 Bolinda Publishing

Critic reviews

'One Night Out Stealing has many of the strengths of 'Once Were Warriors' – the dialogue, the pub culture, the reckless abandon of those who live hand to mouth and the rules which bend them together ... Alan Duff is doing something original and important.' (Geoff Chapple, Sunday Star)

'Duff hits the nail on the head again.' (Mike Crean, Christchurch Star)

'Duff's great strength as a novelist is that he ventures with pugnacious gusto where others fear to tread ... Duff's extraordinary prose moves with dizzying momentum and crackles with compressed energy.' (Iain Sharp, Evening Post)

'This is one novel you won't forget in a hurry.' (Paul Baker, Wairarapa Times Age)