You can read the book online here
This book, based on the twenty-four-part ABC Radio series TAIM BILONG MASTA which was first broadcast in 1981, has been out of print for a long time and is now as rare as hen's teeth. I bought my first copy, together with the audio cassette tapes, in 1983 on a flying business trip from Saudi Arabia to Adelaide where I found them at the ABC Shop in Rundle Mall.
I have treasured this book ever since, and a long time ago replaced the warped tapes with mp3 recordings on a tiny memory stick so I can take them with me wherever I go. They were my nightcap during those lonely years in the world's largest sandbox, and I still listen to them today even though I can quote from them almost verbatim.
Yesterday I found another copy of the book tucked away in a dusty corner at the local Salvos, and I immediatelely "rehomed" it, not so much for my sake as I still have my copy but for any old friend from my New Guinea days who may no longer have or never had a copy.
Until then you may wish to listen to the ABC Radio series here:
Episode 1 Never a Colony
Episode 2 The Good Time Before
Episode 3 God's Shadow on Earth
Episode 4 The Loneliness and the Glory
Episode 5 On Patrol
Episode 6 Sailo
Episode 7 The Boat Came Every Six Weeks
Episode 8 Masta Me Like Work
Episode 9 The Violent Land
Episode 10 Moneymakers and Misfits
Episode 11 Wife and Missus
Episode 12 Growing Up
Episode 13 Into The Highlands
Episode 14 The Promised Land
Episode 15 First Contact
Episode 16 Gold
Episode 17 The Good News
Episode 18 The Mission Rush
Episode 19 You Had To Be Firm
Episode 20 Across the Barriers
Episode 21 Courts and Calaboose
Episode 22 War
Episode 23 A Reason For Being There
Episode 24 Going Finish
