Dear Jack
Love is a many splendoured thing but busting up is a reality. We've all suffered the humiliation and heart-ache of love gone wrong, but the good news is we nearly always get over it Dear Jack, inspired by the song Hit the Road, Jack, is a compilation of break-up letters from some of Australia's most well-known people. They include politicians, poets, musicians, mothers, actors, artists, imposters, comedians, writers and friends. These people share some of their past pain (or pleasure), associated with breaking up with someone they have loved. This is pretty personal stuff, which makes makes this book extraordinary reading. Letters have been dug up from the bottom of drawers, old boxes and gargages; others have reconstructed the the heart-ache and humour from the dark depths of imagination (the real evidence burnt or discarded, or just yelled out in the heat of the moment). Some contributors claim to have never dumped or been dumped in writing and so wrote the missive they never got a chance to. Some letters are years old, others bear the blood of fresh wounds. The passion and pain of love on the rocks is captured here in all its heart-wrenching glory. Some people are serial monogamists, serial adulterers, serial jiltees, bigamists and romantic fools ... others are just losers in love. Reliving past experiences can be cathartic. Or it can be hell. But the main thing is that confusion and rejection are common to us all - everyone who has loved has lost. Heartbreak hotel is always full. To quote from another old song, 'you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.' But while Dear Jack is a book of break-up letters, it's also a celebration of life and love with its humour and pathos ... and the credo that fortune favours the brave! Contributors include Bruce Ruxton, Carlotta, Chopper Read, Denise Drysdale, Jason Donovan, John Clarke, Julia Morris, Matt Condon, Marcus Graham, Red Symons, Sheila Scotter, Tim Ferguson and Wilbure Wilde. The list goes on and on. 'This ain't working' ... John Safran 'I'm devastated to think that I thought I had found friend in you and saddened that I was so very wrong'... Julia Morris 'Now, Jack, let's be mates, mate, and don't blame the yanks for everything' ... Bruce Ruxton 'You dumb bitch, by what stretch of your limited imagination could you possibly believe that there is someone out there better than me'... Red Symons 'Where does one find the words to say it's time to move on with our lives?' ... Carlotta