John van de Ruit – författare

Spud is the hilarious debut novel by John van de RuitIt's 1990. Apartheid is crumbling, Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison and thirteen-year-old Spud Milton is about to start his first year at an elite boys-only boarding school. Cursed with embarrassingly dysfunctional parents, a nutty granny and a dormitory full of strange characters, Spud has his hands full trying to adapt to his new home. With only his wits and his diary, he takes readers on a rowdy boarding school romp full of illegal midnight swims, catastrophic cricket matches, ghostbusting escapades, girls and disastrous holidays.South African comedian John van de Ruit invites the reader into the mind of a young boy whose eyes are being opened to love, friendship and complete insanity!Some rave reviews from South Africa:'Funny, fast-paced and wonderfully observant' - The Daily News'Once you pick it up it's almost as if the pages turn themselves' - Metrobeat'Achingly funny' - Sunday Times LifestyleJohn van de Ruit was born in Durban, South Africa. He went to the University of Natal where he completed a Masters degree in Drama and Performance. Since 1998 he has been a professional actor, playwright and producer, winning numerous awards. Spud is his first novel.

Spud's nearly 15 and although he is no longer the youngest or the smallest in his dorm, his second year at boarding school is beset with women trouble, misguided late-night adventures and excruciating family visits. With his dreams of a stage career in tatters after a disastrous house play production of Noah's Ark, Spud, armed with only his wits and his diary, invites us to delve further into the mind of a boy who discovers that the long path to manhood is never easy... especially when all around him the madness continues...

Spud Milton (practically a man in most areas) is hoping for a smooth ride as he returns to boarding school as a senior. But instead he finds his vindictive arch-enemy is back to taunt him and a garrulous new boy has taken residence in his dorm, along with the regular inmates and misfits he calls friends. Spud's world has never felt more uncertain as he attempts to master Shakespeare, girls, religion and the meaning of life. Once again, armed only with his wits and his diary, Spud invites us on a hilarious journey deep into the sublime and ridiculous world of being a teenager.

Spud: Exit, Pursued by a Bear is the 4th and final instalment in the hilarious teenage life of schoolboy Spud Milton - written by South African comedian John van de Ruit.Spud Milton is in his final year at boarding school. Now a prefect and on the cusp of adulthood, he thinks this may be his best year yet. But soon his life is as chaotic as ever as he wages a battle for his room, directs a play in which the actors refuse to learn their lines and (most terrifyingly of all) attempts to find a date for the matric dance.For the last time, armed once again with his wits and his diary, Spud invites us to share the agonies, the victories and the sheer absurdities of growing up.Hugely funny and entertaining, SPUD is South Africa's bestselling series.

It is 2003 – ten years since Spud Milton’s class of 93 matriculated and the boys went their separate ways. Despite their seemingly unbreakable bond, the Crazy Eight have not kept in touch. Or at least, not as far as Spud knows. When he receives an invitation from the school to attend the ten-year reunion weekend, Spud is determined to avoid the event at all costs, but he hasn’t reckoned with the bombardment of intrusive messages and threatening phone calls from his former dorm mates. No one is going to bend his arm, not this time; he is immune to peer pressure and wise to Rambo’s devious manipulation techniques. Spud has moved on. And, anyway, he has enough to worry about on the home front.At twenty-eight Spud is stuck in a one-third life crisis. Reflecting on a decade of spectacular non-achievement, at a point where he’s coming to realise that his glittering stage career might have stalled before it’s even begun, casts him into deep gloom. For the former scholarship kid, the prospect of once again having to measure up to his blue-blooded school friends – and be found wanting – has him riddled with anxiety. Not only that. Spud still doesn’t have a serious girlfriend, which has seen him resort to a questionable international bath-sexting relationship with an old flame. Not to mention that circumstances have forced him to move back in with his parents and his senile grandmother, Wombat, whose walks never end where they began.After a wildly unsuccessful fishing trip with his father, as well as a return to his old way of figuring things out – writing in his diary – to his own surprise, Spud finds his reunion resistance crumbling. Curiosity and courage win the day. It’s just a weekend, after all . . . what could possibly go wrong?From the bestselling author John van de Ruit. Spud: The Reunion revisits well-loved characters in this nostalgic reunion ten years after graduation.

It is 2003 – ten years since ‘Spud’ Milton’s class of 93 finished school. Despite their unbreakable bond, the Crazy Eight have lost touch. An invitation to their ten-year reunion weekend at the school triggers an unsettling tumult of emotions for Spud. He’s sure he won’t go, hardened by the prospect of revealing a decade of spectacular non-achievement to his former, privileged classmates.At twenty-eight, Spud is stuck in a one-third life crisis: his glittering theatre career has stalled before it’s even begun, he still doesn’t have a girlfriend, and circumstances have forced him to move back in with his parents and his senile grandmother, Wombat, whose walks never end where they begin.But powerful machinations are already at work. A bombardment of messages and darkly threatening phone calls from unknown numbers sees his resistance begin to crumble and his curiosity piqued. It’s just a weekend, after all . . . what else could possibly go wrong?The Crazy Eight are back. From John van de Ruit, Spud: The Reunion is a riotous trip down memory lane ten years in the making. Featuring all the signature wit and "catastrophic nostalgia" of the original series, this is the hilarious, adult chapter Spud’s fans have been waiting for.