y separately published work icon Jinker, the Grafter's Mate single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 1916... 1916 Jinker, the Grafter's Mate
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Pubicised upon its release 1916 as the 'latest Australian sporting novel, Con Drew's sequel to the popularly received collection of stories co-written with I. B. Evans and published as The Grafter in 1915. In noting that the volume was 'excellently printed and would likely find a ready sale,' the Sydney Sportsman's book reviewer writes:

'Under the title of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate, Con Drew, in an Interesting manner, tells of the doings of a pair of racecourse battlers, whose whipcord nerves, armor-plated hides, colossal cheek, and intimate knowledge of the strong points of the sporting game, constitute their capital. Time after time the author ingeniously puts them in the pool, and when II looks a tenner to a tin-tag they are sent for, he brings them out on top.' ('Jinker.' 15 March 1916, p.8.)

In its 'Publications Received' column a few months later the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate records:

Australians in general, and sportsmen in particular, will enjoy every page of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate. It is written in Con Drew's best and breeziest style. Jinker and the Grafter, the two rogues of the turf and of every other sphere which claims their attention, are worthy disciples of the Devil, and the numerous methods which they adopt to fleece the public of their money, and to make life more endurable for themselves, are well pictured by the author. Particularly readable are the descriptions of betting scenes, in which the Grafter and his evil comrade are engaged in a constant battle of wits against Fate and their clientele (22 June 1916, p.3).

Adaptations

y separately published work icon Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Oswald Anderson , Con Drew , 1917 (Manuscript version)9163434 9163428 1917 single work drama

Based on Con Drew's story published as The Grafter (1915, with I. B. Evans) and his solo effort, Jinker, the Grafter's Mate (1916), this dramatic adaptation follows the escapades of Grafter and Jinker, two shady bookmakers on the outer, where the Turf operator needs to be a super-sharp if he wishes to make a living out of his wily clients, at the same time keeping within the law (or not getting caught).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: C. T. Drew , 1916 .
      Note/s:
      • Printed by Shipping Newspapers Ltd (Sydney)

Works about this Work

Racecourse Incidents 1916 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Town and Country Journal , 9 August 1916; (p. 44)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel
Sporting Swindles 1916 single work review
— Appears in: The Register , 22 July 1916; (p. 4)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel

'It should be impossible, of course, by any principle either of ethics or of sport, to sympathize with a bookmaker who takes cash bets while knowing well that he cannot pay out if the favourite wins. In the sympathy the reader does somehow feel with 'The Grafter' is the measure of Mr. Drew's success...'

New Books 1916 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 29 July 1916; (p. 4)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel

'The type of sporting society that Mr. Con. Drew writes about would supply almost any number' of shocking examples for the moralist and social reformer...'

Publications Received : Fiction 1916 single work review
— Appears in: The Queenslander , 1 April 1916; (p. 3)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel

Jinker, the Grafters Mate, by Con Drew (Shipping Newspapers, Ltd., Sydney).—Mr. Con Drew, some years ago, was a Brisbane boy, but he is now residing in Sydney. He came into prominence as an author by the publication of The Grafter, a rough but thoroughly Australian racecourse spieler. It is doubtful if a racecourse spieler were ever more remarkably portrayed than was 'The Grafter.' In the present book the story revolves around 'The Grafter', but 'Jinker,' his pencilling mate, is the central, figure...'

Publications Received 1916 single work review
— Appears in: Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate , 22 July 1916; (p. 3)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel

'Australians in general, and sportsmen in particular, will enjoy every page of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate. It is written in Con Drew's best and breeziest style...'

Racecourse Incidents 1916 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Town and Country Journal , 9 August 1916; (p. 44)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel
The Spieler Splendid 1916 single work review
— Appears in: The Sun [Sydney] , 19 March 1916; (p. 13)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel

'So courteous and urbane was the old-time Victorian Chief Justice, Sir Redmond Barry, that an admiring criminal once confided to his counsel that it was "a blanky treat to be sentenced by Barry." Similarly, readers of ' Con Drew's latest book, Jinker, the Grafter's Mate, must fain admit that it would be a similar treat to be scaled by that amiable spieler, the Grafter....'

Publications Received 1916 single work review
— Appears in: Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate , 22 July 1916; (p. 3)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel

'Australians in general, and sportsmen in particular, will enjoy every page of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate. It is written in Con Drew's best and breeziest style...'

Publications Received : Fiction 1916 single work review
— Appears in: The Queenslander , 1 April 1916; (p. 3)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel

Jinker, the Grafters Mate, by Con Drew (Shipping Newspapers, Ltd., Sydney).—Mr. Con Drew, some years ago, was a Brisbane boy, but he is now residing in Sydney. He came into prominence as an author by the publication of The Grafter, a rough but thoroughly Australian racecourse spieler. It is doubtful if a racecourse spieler were ever more remarkably portrayed than was 'The Grafter.' In the present book the story revolves around 'The Grafter', but 'Jinker,' his pencilling mate, is the central, figure...'

New Books 1916 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 29 July 1916; (p. 4)

— Review of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate Con Drew , 1916 single work novel

'The type of sporting society that Mr. Con. Drew writes about would supply almost any number' of shocking examples for the moralist and social reformer...'

Last amended 11 Nov 2016 12:17:33
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