To Bed at Noon: The Life and Art of Maurice Duggan »

Maurice Duggan has long been considered one of the masters of New Zealand fiction. Stories like 'Along Rideout Road That Summer', beautifully crafted and riding confidently against the realist trend, are among the classics of our literature. His life was turbulent and difficult; a 'black Irish' personality, the lifelong trauma of an amputated leg, and battles with alcoholism, relationships and employment make him a fascinating subject for biography. To Bed at Noon brilliantly conveys the complexity of Duggan's life, showing a man of great talents driven equally to creation and destruction, to joy and to anger. Ian Richards organises his extensive and finely researched material into an engrossing and moving narrative. He also gives a rich picture of the literary life of New Zealand, and especially Auckland, in the 1950s and 1960s - characters remembered and incidents recalled with style, colour and passion.