Childhood of an Idiot

Reviewed By  Grasshopper2       November 9, 2014

 

Author  Dom Harvey

Distributor:     
ISBN:                 9781877505430
Publisher:         Allen & Unwin
Release Date:    

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This is an account of the early years of Dom Harvey’s life.  Dominic is currently a radio broadcaster in New Zealand, and if his show is as witty and humorous as his book, I’d love to hear it. Dom is totally honest, and totally irreverent about his childhood.  Like most of us, his parents wanted the best for their children and like most of us they made many mistakes along the way.

 The over-riding feeling in this book is the sense of individuality among all the family members.  The common thread that holds them together is love and total disregard for each other.

Prepare to laugh out loud and to squirm when his mother says, “If you don’t stop crying, I’ll really give you something to cry about”!

Like many families after the Depression his parents found it was hard to believe that the source of income for the family wouldn’t suddenly dry up.  Dom’s mother and father still used one lot of bathwater for all six members of the family.  Family expenditure was closely monitored and kept to a minimum, reinforced with stories from Mum, such as, “We didn’t have any water one week and my Dad made us use all his bath water for our drinking supply”!

This is a great book to read and you will enjoy the stories of the family.  Be prepared to chuckle and laugh constantly and be prepared for some fruity language. 

I feel rather sad that Dom needs to label himself an idiot.  As he has won awards for Radio Shows in New Zealand, he is obviously not an idiot.  According to his School reports and to his Parents, he had some learning issues.  It would be fantastic if he could acknowledge those difficulties and say that he had achieved success despite them.

Nevertheless, you can open this book at any page and have a good laugh.  It is certainly a book for sharing.