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Barrett was born in Bondi, Australia. He left school at 14 to do a few odd jobs before taking on a trade as a butcher around the eastern suburbs of Sydney. He gave up his trade when a hind of beef fell on him and injured his shoulder. While he was on worker's compensation, he completed three writing courses at the WEA (Workers' Educational Association). He has worked as a gag writer for a radio station, as a DJ, and behind a bar before getting a job writing a column for People Magazine. He has written short stories and feature articles for Australian newspapers. His novels are based on his well-loved character Les Norton. |
The Les Norton series
Les Norton is a larger than life boy from the Queensland bush who has come down to Sydney where he now works as a Kings Cross nightclub bouncer. These books are full of colour and great Aussie humour.
To get more details, the dustjacket summary plus my own review, click on the titles.
| You Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids (1986) My Review | So What Do You Reckon -- (non Les Norton) -- |
| The Real Thing (1986) | Mud Crab Boogie |
| The Boys From Binjiwunyawunya (1989) | Goodoo Goodoo |
| The Godson (1989) | The Wind and the Monkey |
| Between the Devlin And The Deep Blue Seas | Leaving Bondi |
| Davo's Little Something (1992) -- (non Les Norton) -- | The Ultimate Aphrodisiac |
| White Shoes, White Lines and Blackie | Mystery Bay Blues (2002) |
| And De Fun Don't Dun | Rosa-Marie's Baby |
| Mele Kalikimaka Mr Walker |
Crime Scene Cessnock (2005) My Review |
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The Day of The Gecko |
The Tesla Legacy (2006) -- (non Les Norton) -- |
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Guns 'N' Rose |
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You Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids : Les Norton, a big red-headed country boy from Queensland, has just arrived in the big smoke and is set to make his mark. Working as a bouncer at an illegal casino in the Cross, Les encounters a number of facinating characters who make up the seamier side of one of the most exciting cities in the world - gamblers, conmen, bookies, bouncers, hookers and hit men, who ply their respective trades from the golden sands of Bondi to the tainted gutters of Kings Cross ... usually on the wrong side of the law. |
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The Real Thing : The five stories in The Real Thing provide an entertaining mix of laughter and excitement, as well as an insight into the underworld of Sydney - an often violent and cynical world, but also with its fair share of rough humour and memorable characters. |
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Mystery Bay Blues : Just when everything was going so good, Les slips a disc in his back. He can't run, he can't train. He can't do anything much. But he can still drive his car. So it's down to Narooma for the South Coast Blues Festival and a bit of R and R. Thirty bands and three days and nights of nono-stop rock 'n' roll. Which would have been great, only Les has to have a slight altercation with four fishermen on his first night in town. Now the toughest, meanest, horriblest bloke on the south coast is after his blood.
Then Les met Amazing Grace. Add some magic mushrooms, a dancing bear and Jerry Lee Rat. It all made for an interesting time at the Blues Festival. |
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