Memoir a humorous ramble through the life of young Joe Bennett REVIEW

• Published date: 24 May 2023

by Joe Bennett (Harper Collins, $35)

Reviewed by Louise Ward

I picked up this book, laughed out loud at the first paragraph, and immediately read it aloud to the person within range, who also laughed.

It’s a memoir of Joe Bennett’s early life, offering snapshots of recollection and emotion, some as bright and raw decades after the event as they were at the time.

Young Joe, born Julian, grew up in Sussex and his chief interests were fishing and cricket. The fishing stories give us insight into Joe’s brother, Nigel; Joe is still surprised that his surly older sibling, who “struggled all his life with the world’s official rhythm”, should pay him such interest. Nigel had a gift for fishing that he shared with Joe.

Nearby Brighton is described thus: “The beach had never been sandy. The weather had never been Spanish.”

There is more to know about Brighton, but as a condensed description, this is pretty accurate.

Through cricket and fishing, young Joe studies masculinity: cricket sheds smell of men; casting a line was “the theatre of manhood”; silent fishermen are a “fraternity”. The men Joe admires are quiet, unambitious. Women don’t get much of a mention, apart from the ‘plump local girls’ who get off with visiting French schoolboys.

The tone of the book is understated and...