‘A book that grabs you by the scruff . . . Compelling, unflinching and true’ ScotsmanBeing a copper’s son, I’ve always got one eye out for trouble. I can’t help it. But I don’t go looking for it anymore.Chaos has shaped Tim Winton’s life, and in these extraordinarily powerful true stories he reveals the accidents, both serendipitous and traumatic, that have influenced his view of the world. From unexpected links between car crashes and faith, the dangers of surfing and writing, to the story of his upbringing in the changing Australian landscape, The Boy Behind the Curtain is an impassioned, funny collection of memories, and a book like no other.‘Melancholy but humorous, lyrical but boisterous . . . will delight even those unfamiliar with his fiction’ Daily Telegraph‘A masterclass in turning appalling incidents into meditations on mortality, fatherhood and responsibility’ Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent‘Eclectic and impassioned’ Observer