Notes

328 pages New Zealand author Summary: Barney Kettle knew he would be an extremely famous film director one day, he just didn't know when that day would arrive. Of course, he was already an actual director - he'd made four fifteen-minute films, and had a documentary in progress - but so far only his school mates and the residents of the High Street had seen the films, so clearly global fame was a little way off. It would come, though. Barney was quite certain about that...' So begins the manuscript written from the hospital bed of an unnamed man. He has written it over many months as he recovers from serious injuries sustained in a city-wide catastrophe. He has written so he can remember the street where he lived - the inner-city High Street, home to a cavalcade of interesting people, marvellous shops and curious stories. He has written so he can remember that last summer before he was injured, the last days of a vanished world. Above all, he has written so he can remember the inimitable Barney Kettle, filmmaker, parttime dictator, questing brain, good-hearted friend; Barney Kettle, who liked to invent stories but found a real one under his nose; Barney Kettle, who explored his neighbourhood with camera in hand and stumbled on a mystery that changed everything... (Back cover)