He grew "increasingly enthralled" by Bible imagery: Christ as the rock and also water, Paul speaking of how creation "groans in travail".

"[1]Ashley Hay in the Australian wrote, "The Boy Behind the Curtain is a beautiful object, with clear space around many of its chapters, as if you might want to pause, or ease them apart to hand on to your friends.

[2] Malcolm Knox, in his Sydney Morning Herald article, says that "... this collection reveals some of the connective tissue between the novels and the man".

The stories Tim Winton has included in the collection also show that his live has been molded by accidents, unexpected events and chaos.

"[4] 2017 longlisted Indie Awards — Nonfiction[5] A spoken-word copy of the book, read by Winton, is available as a seven-CD boxed set, published by ABC/Bolinda.