Better than the others!
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I have read many books of normal people growing up in the seventies/eighties but this has got to be my favourite.
I launched into the book not expecting much, just for a simple and easy read. It is easy to read but it's hard to stop laughing at some of the chapters! The book builds up and, for me, got funnier. It maybe the authors intension or it may just be me but I was laughing so hard towards the end of the book.
The part about the author and his friend reluctantly going back to mum and dad after their accommodation's high ceiling comes crashing down was wonderfully written. And his psycho girlfriend and their differences, we've all know a girl like that!
Don't expect to be bombarded with eighties references, that's not the point of this book. Its a simple story of struggling away from home and entering the real world.
An extremely enjoyable, easy read!
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student days
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There weren't such generous grants when I was a student and I never did manage to get a place on campus, but this recollection of Andrew Collins' experiences took me back to the rollercoaster ride of living away from home for the first time and negotiating a whole new set of rules to live by.
The terrible student houses, the excitement of seeing the members of a band you idolise, the ups and downs of friendship and love. The only thing that I questioned in the book, as I rushed through it because I was enjoying it so much, is that he comes across as very honourable and nice. Most of the arty student males I knew wouldn't be so blemish-free and I wouldn't have either, but that is the only bad thing I can say about it.
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Reader in a coma...
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Why on earth the writer thinks his insipid student days are worthy of a book I have no idea.
I only finished the book to fuel my bile towards this self-absorbed wet blanket. He was self-absorbed in the book and is obviously no less so now for having bothered to write about his tiny dull little student life and to think anyone else would be interested. Obviously being part of the London media set he managed to get a couple of mates to write some not too diss-ing reviews, But really anyone who does not know the guy would come away feeling you have read the kind of vanity publishing that normally only gets a print run by replying to an ad in a Sunday Paper... You want to be a published writer?
Initially I thought the book might be amusing and it seemed to strike a few familiar cords...I was a student in London just a few years later. But it degenerated into bland regurgitation of his not very interesting diaries. Towards the end of the book the padding is painfully obvious.
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Heaven knows I've wasted my money
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I agree with the the previous reviewer- this is a self-indulgent autobiography by someone who thinks they are hip and wacky. I wouldn't mind but there's no rebellion, gripping narrative, or charm in this book. He's basically just a Smiths fan (even more boring and self-indulgent) going thru the motions of being a student. The only use I can find for this book is if you run out of loo roll, like most students do!
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Dull and smug beyond belief
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Boy, is this book boring! He basically just lists all his girlfriends and writes about how good looking they were. Honestly, 20 pages about renting a house in Streatham. Come on! He even tells us how he got his first mortgage!!!! If you want to read about the 80's AND have a laugh get Boy Georges's 'Take It Like A Man'. This book is just like listening to a boring self-centered guy you meet at a party and can't get away from. I only finished this because I was only holiday on a small island with nothing else to read....I think it is probably the worst book I have ever read...
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