Bryce Courtenay was one of Australia's highest-selling and most-loved authors. From his first book, The Power of One, he captivated readers. Many of his fans would have thought they knew him, and they did - they knew the version of him that he wanted to present to the world. To his son Adam, Bryce Courtenay was larger than life, mercurial, and impossible to know completely. In this moving, unforgettable memoir, Adam searches for the real Bryce. His father was a natural born storyteller and occasional fabulist whose tales never quite felt true. He was a man who forever publicly grieved the loss of his son Damon, the subject of April Fool's Day, but who seemed reluctant to connect with his remaining two sons.

Several years after his death, Bryce still looms large in Adam's life. In seeking to understand his father, who made so many people happy with his books, Adam recounts his own 1960s and 1970s childhood, Bryce's career in advertising and his metamorphosis into bestselling novelist. In the years after The Power of One, Bryce became a household name even as his personal life was plagued by tragedy and heartbreak - some of his own making. All the while Adam did his best to love his father and hang on through the wild ride of his life.

In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Adam Courtenay about his idyllic childhood, his father's rollercoaster career in advertising, and how his father's talent for storytelling was present from the very early years. 

Adam Courtenay on the dynamic, complex and driven man in his memoir 'My Father Bryce'

Book talk and author interviews aimed at helping you discover your next favourite read, presented by Good Reading Magazine.

Adam Courtenay on the dynamic, complex and driven man in his memoir 'My Father Bryce'

The Good Reading Podcast