R.B. N. Bookmark

Minger’s tale- review

What a difference cultures and situations make! The author is roughly my age, and yet his experiences of life could hardly be more different than mine.

And that’s part of what fascinated me about this book. I read books because I want to experience vicariously things that I cannot experience directly, and this slice of life fascinated me because of that, and that we are roughly age-mates but with such wildly different experiences!

The tone is more conversational than memoir-like- it’s similar to reading people’s LiveJournal entries about their lives (which I also adore).

And- that brings us into the territory of the unreliable narrator. LJ posts- mine included!- tend to favor the writer’s perspective, even when we are objectively being idiots. I think some of this was going on here; I don’t think he wrote the whole story about why he was so aimless for so long, and made a mess out of various opportunities. He acknowledges that he did- I’d have liked to know more about the “why”.

And as an adult, looking back… well, I know why I screwed up in various ways as a callow youth; I wish he had been more forthcoming. Like- why has he so eagerly embraced “minger” as an identity?

It is mostly, as intended, funny- but with more understated dry humor than laugh-out-loud jokes. That being said, his account of his Army days- literally days- reminded me of parts of Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant".

Expect minutiae- which I liked, but is not to everyone’s taste. Do not expect a coherent story arc.

Recommended for a slice of life, this one a son of Irish immigrants growing up in Manchester slums in the 1960s- 1970s.… (mais)