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After the Fireworks – A Life of David Ballantyne, Bryan Reid
Auckland University Press
Reviewed by James O'Sullivan (Courtesy Taranaki Daily News)

It's an all-too-common narrative in the history of New Zealand literature. A fresh, talented writer comes along but fails to attract the attention of the wider reading public. Without popular support the writer turns to alcohol for solace. And, as Ronald Hugh Morrieson said, they become one of those poor buggers who achieve fame after they die.

David Ballantyne published his first book at the age of 23. The novel drew on his experiences growing up in working-class Gisborne. Now a New Zealand classic, The Cunninghams was picked up by an American publisher but didn't cause much of a ripple here when it was released shortly after Word War II.

Ballantyne chose journalism as his profession; along with journalism came heavy drinking.

Alcohol promoted journalistic camaraderie and soothed his frustration over the constant rejection of his manuscripts. In the days of six o'clock closing the skill of drinking copious amounts of alcohol quickly was considered an asset.

Marrying didn't curb Ballantyne's drinking. Only when he moved with his family to England did it subside. Here he had some success writing for television, a new outlet for his talents. But after several years the Ballantyne family became homesick and they returned home, and back to the pubs went David.

One of Ballantyne's drinking buddies was another under-appreciated novelist, Morrieson. You can imagine the two writers in a Hawera pub drinking themselves silly, complaining about the wretchedly unjust nature of New Zealand's publishing scene. But Bryan Reid's biography is a little scarce on these romantic details. His is a more detached, scholarly approach, even though he was a close friend of Ballantyne's.

This book is an academic overview of Ballantyne's life and work rather than a gritty portrait of a frustrated artist. Consequently it can seem a little vague in places where we want more earthy details.

The good news is that Ballantyne beat his alcoholism and did gain at least some recognition in his lifetime, although he claims the encouragement would have been more useful when he was younger and had the energy to do something with it.