I’d Rather Not is a novel by Robert Skinner following his interior monologue and gonzo adventures from hitchhiking, parties, Singapore airport and more. It’s not all fun and games, the story is tempered by the discomfort of living rough as a young creative in Melbourne and other bloopers.
Our narrator publishes a short-story magazine with a group of others called The Canary Press, which he touts as Australia’s greatest (and possibly only) short story magazine. The Canary Press is a labour of love and while Bob’s up for that, the actual labour of a 9 to 5 job is not on his bingo card.
Centrelink is a big character in the book, the Goliath if you will, as the author describes the soul-sucking efforts to access Newstart and then the looming threat and battle against a befuddling and infuriating Robodebt. Between dodging trucker or dish washing work, the ‘work’ of keeping up his dole payments and the literary world he’s running on fumes. He describes sleeping in cars and parks with some romanticism as well as the unsafe and unhappy nature of it.
Skinner delivers many laugh out loud one liners about the mundanity but also completely left of field moments in life. It’s a pleasure to read. His self-deprecating ‘call it as it is’ humour has the familiar bite of idiosyncratic Aussie jokes; funny and dark, but not malicious. With some hours up my sleeve I enjoyed this good natured and rambling story in a single setting.
While a work of fiction it has notes of memoir as he reflects on what it is to travel through life, the existential nature of being alone but without a big fuss. He leads us through the wobbles, wins and ‘where am I going’ moments we all have.
The tone is upbeat and sardonic. At times he’s a tear-away but also offers a lesson in managing your reality for the better – or being a trip sitter for others. This comes to the fore when he moonlights as a tour guide in Central Australia, creating unnecessary faux-challenges for the tourists like pushing the bus (when it’s not broken or bogged) to create some mate-ship among them. Skinner understands that one is, or we are not, always satisfied with the things that come easy and that the journey is important.
As such the book doesn’t really offer a destination, we’re on for the ride of daily observations, setbacks, giggles, and pondering a greater meaning. As Robert Skinner’s website writes; “I’d Rather Not, won the inaugural John Clarke Prize for Humour Writing, after the judges misunderstood his finely wrought work of tragedy.”