I am finding so many treats as I shop my shelves that it is making me wonder why (like all bookworms – and Nemo’s good friend Dory) I can be distracted by new shiny books when there are some absolute gems on my shelves that I have ignored for some time.
I am a fan of Tom Allen, and his dry and unique sense of humour. I have heard him speak a few times about his memoirs/autobiography and, now that the second has been released, I thought it was probably about time that I read the first. Although, in my defence, this has only been on my shelves since the end of November, so it has been picked up pretty quickly.
I adored this book. It is full of charm and wit, as you would expect from Tom Allen. But it is also very honest, and Allen really invites you to see some of the struggles that he faced growing up as a gay man in surburban Bromley. I enjoy that this is not just a chronicle of his life, but that he selects the stories he wants us to hear about his journey through life from boy to young man – and award-winning comedian.
You will laugh out loud as you read this book (quite a choice for me to have read on a train journey to London), and it will break your heart at times as the young Tom Allen struggles a little with his place in the world. But, also, for the clear love that there is between him and his parents, showing unconditional love for their son, even if he did not always realise that everything would be okay after all.
As my first piece of non-fiction of the year, I feel that it was a great choice, as I have been blessed with another well-written and engaging read that I was looking forward to picking up at each opportunity that I had to read. And, as Tom Allen is a contemporary of mine, it was nice to share some of the same nostalgia for Sony Discmans and swimming pools getting their wave machines, and that seeming like the most exciting thing ever. I would definitely like to read Tom Allen’s second book – but first I must continue my quest to get the to-be-read pile down.