Wild Man (Alecia Simmonds, Affirm Press)

In 2012, 33-year-old Ryan Pringle—mentally ill, under the influence of drugs and armed with a crossbow—was shot dead by police after threatening a group of hippies at a remote site in rural New South Wales. Wild Man, the first book from journalist and scholar Alecia Simmonds, chronicles the coronial inquest following Ryan’s death and scrutinises ‘the moment where our mental health system clashes with criminal law’. In the same way a coronial inquest aims to piece together facts, Simmonds structures this book as a personal fact-finding mission, critiquing her assumptions in a self-reflexive, honest style similar to that of Helen Garner in This House of Grief.  She examines the complex issues surrounding our underfunded mental health system, the effect of deinstitutionalisation on communities and the power wielded by police. Simmonds is interested in the interplay between truth and narrative, the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of traumatic situations. This book excels when it moves beyond legal jargon and police procedure to question Ryan’s case within the framework of storytelling—the mythical figure of the ‘wild man’, the horror inspired by untamed bushland and the larrikin as a model of Australian masculinity. Simmonds skilfully weaves academic research, courtroom drama, family stories and personal reflections together to create a challenging and fascinating book that will appeal to readers of true crime and investigative journalism.

Cosima McGrath is the marketing and communications officer at Collins Booksellers

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Category: Reviews