This novel was Barry Crump's sequel to the bestselling A Good Keen Man. The main character is Sam Cash, an engaging, yarn-spinning vagabond, who takes young Jack Lilburn under his wing on a roundabout journey. The pair drift from one job to another – forestry, horse-breaking, fencing, mustering, farming – but of equal importance to the story are the tall tales and unusual qualities of Sam Cash himself, hard-case humorist and jack-of-all-trades.