But, no matter how busy or tired he was, something kept niggling at him. Andy is the narrator and I highly recommend listening to it.Ī working father whose life no longer feels like his own discovers the transforming powers of great (and downright terrible) literature in this laugh-out-loud memoir.Īndy Miller had a job he quite liked, a family he loved, and no time at all for reading. I listen to the backlisted podcast and have done so for a few years, so I bought this book on my Kindle (Andy Miller is one of the presenters) and it languished and finally I decided to listen to it. The Year of Reading Dangerously – Andy Miller This book is both hilarious and sobering no avocado or alfresco tables, the road toll and treatment of women and children (well anyone that wasn’t a white man). I have never thought it was better in the past. My mother trained my budgie to say ‘ is a nuisance’. I remember my neighbour always commenting on my weight. Adults felt they could say (and possibly do) anything to children.

What I remember distinctly is how mean adults were to children – including parents and grand parents (and no one ever believed the child).

I grew up in the 70s and 80s in Australia and I remember much of what he talks about. Most of all it will make you realise how far we’ve come – and how much further we can go. And leave you wondering how bizarre things were, not so long ago. The Land Before Avocado will make you laugh and cry, be angry and inspired. It also the land of staggeringly awful attitudes – often enshrined in law – towards anybody who didn’t fit in. It’s a place of funny clothing and food that was appalling, but amusingly so. Let’s break the news now: they didn’t have avocado. The Australia of the late ’60s and early ’70s. It’s a vivid portrait of a quite peculiar land: a place that is scary and weird, dangerous and incomprehensible, and, now and then, surprisingly appealing. There’s plenty of nostalgia right now for the Australia of the past, but what was it really like? In The Land Before Avocado, Richard Glover takes a journey to an almost unrecognisable Australia. A funny and frank look at the way Australia used to be – and just how far we have come. The new book from the bestselling author of Flesh Wounds.

I received this book as part of a book club christmas exchange, but in the end I ended up listening to it on Borrowbox (Richard Glover is the reader, so I recommend it).

The Museum of Words by Georgia Blain