First published in 1987 this novel has acquired something of a cult status among both cricket fans and those interested in experimental prose and bohemian lifestyles.
It is set in Auckland in the 1980s and is a mixture of stream of conscious internal dialogue between the main character, PSM, and himself. Externally, it follows the fortunes of the NZ cricket team at Eden Park playing against the world famous 'Out of It' eleven which includes Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Jim Morrison, James K Baxter, Bob Marley, all under the captaincy of Te Rauparaha. Each of the Out of It team includes a literary satire or vignette appropriate to that person. Collages by Greg O'Brien spice up the text and further emphasize the surrealist dada nature of the novel.
This edition also contains the following short stories:
- Neither Here Nor There
- Zubu and Sambo Leave for Aotearoa
- What a Drag it is Getting Old
Responses to Michael O'Leary's novel Out of It
'If you are a collector of Bohemian cricket memorabilia, this book is for your shelf. It is certainly a boon to te kirikiti o Aotearoa'.
-Rangi Faith, Christchurch Press, 30 July, 1988
If there has ever been a stranger book on cricket, I've yet to see it. It reads not unlike the earliest Dadaist offerings. Perhaps it's about dislocation in society - perhaps it isn't. Maybe it's about a suburban man becoming unsettled in real life and entering the surreal world of the imagination - and maybe it isn't. If you can find a copy you will have something in your collection that will be unique'.
-John Symons, Journal of the Cricket Society, vol 26, No3, London Autumn, 2012
