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The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory

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The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory

By: Corey White
Narrated by: Corey White
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About this listen

Corey White was a golden child. He knew this because his father would hit his mother and his sisters but not him. And his mother adored him so much she let him drop out of primary school.

After losing his father to jail and his mother to heroin, though, he became a target for cruelty and dysfunction in foster homes. A scholarship to a prestigious boarding school lifted him out of foster care and awakened a love of learning and reading for him, but this was soon overwhelmed by a crushing depression and drug addiction.

Through it all, he kept thinking - sometimes hoping, sometimes fearing - that he was destined for something bigger. Would he find salvation in the halls of a university, or a poetically grimy crack den, or through love? Or would the golden glow that had been in him since childhood ultimately fade, leaving only darkness and ruin?

The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory is a memoir of trauma and survival that will break your heart and then show you how to rebuild it. It is a powerful, lyrical and darkly funny debut from one of Australia’s brightest young comedians.

©2019 Corey White (P)2019 Penguin Random House Australia Indigenous Creators Mental Health Awareness Fostering Funny Heartfelt Memoir Emotionally Gripping Inspiring Thought-Provoking Witty

Critic Reviews

Praise for Corey White's stand-up: "Captivating." (Tom Gleeson)

"It's a spiritually enriching show. Whitey has safer hands than Gilchrist circa 2003. Strap in for this one, it's a harrowing little number that leaves you in a good mood, quite a feat." (Herald Sun)

"Wonderful. It's a rare stand-up show that you emerge from feeling like a better person, and that you want other people to see so that they can be better people too. I can't give any higher praise than that." (The Guardian)
All stars
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Loved this book. The way it is written is eye opening, confronting, heart breaking and hopeful. Thank you for a such a descriptive experience of the life of a child living in trauma and the foster care system. Just shows you the children hardest to love have been through the most. Will recommend this to everyone I know.

Amazing

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This is one of the best Audio books I have listened to. Hard to forget.

Raw, deep and gripping.

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I listened to this is in 24 hours - couldn't stop listening. It's hard to express in words the devastating hardships Corey has survived, I am just grateful that he has shared his story so earnestly and beautifully.

Thank you Corey

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A very moving memoir beautifully narrated. Provides an insight in the horrible and loveless side of Australian foster care and the tough road to recovery. I highly recommend this book.

Very moving but absolutely recommendable

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I had heard people say this book if equal parts hilarious (the author is a successful comedian) and tragic.
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Well... I must have missed the chapters with humor.
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This is one gut wrenching episode to the next, each a heart breaker, demoralising to an extreme. How White survived let alone today flourishes and basks in success is beyond me. His entire life to his 20s was an unending nightmare of physical, mental and emotional abuse firstly by first his parents, by a number of foster parents he was placed with, then by fellow students, his girlfriend and even responsible adults. It's a fast moving tragedy, chapter after chapter of negligence, intentional abuse and worse. Having said the above, the book is unputdown-able. It's a fascinating tale of courage, determination, and ultimately redemption. White writes in crisp, sharp paragraphs that help keep his story moving along.
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Would I recommend this to other readers/listeners? Categorically YES. It's one of those stories where at the end you'd like to buy the author a coffee and chat, and to ask questions.
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I think everyone will enjoy this remarkable story of a resilient young man.

Remarkable story of survival and triumph

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loved it. start to finish. beautiful, brutal, honest. listened to this stary to finish almost in one go

Intimate, honest, brutal

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How brave to share your story, the ups and downs, the aggression the nerdy ness

Loved the book, thanks for sharing Corey

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Thank you for sharing your story. You are amazing, brave and incredibly strong. Corey writes with raw honesty about the many traumas he endured. His writing displays his intelligence, grit and humour. Bonus - he is also the audible reader.

Wow! Couldn’t stop listening.

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Unbelievable story told with absolute truth frankness compassion and brilliance. A tragic upbringing in a cruel world. Inspiring because despite it, Corey continues to fight the good fight. His heartbreak and pain touched me deeply, his ability to articulate his pain and share with the reader his deepest darkest pain and fears of his mind. His incredible wit and insight he experienced into his descent into psychosis was enlightening, terrifying, insightful and told with fabulous wit. A brave & wonderful man.

Tragic, inspiring, heartbreaking & insightful

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Interesting and harrowing tale, dwells a little too much on the interior monologue, nevertheless a well told tale

Interesting, but!

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