Paperboy [Kindle Edition]

Paperboy by Christopher Fowler.

Reviewed by Stephen Groves

First I would like to say how much I enjoyed reading the biographical story of the early life of Mr Fowler, as I am not a great reader of biographies myself and tend to find them heavy going and sometimes boring. Believe me no worries on that count here. This is a book that evokes memories of a 1960 lonely suburban London boy with a passion for reading and dreams of being a writer, living with the fashions, toys, attitudes, household products, strange foods and films and television of the time, a must for readers born in those years and it also handily explains them to those who were not.
The inventiveness and imagination of Christopher Fowlers childhood, the rebellion of youth, the mistakes and experiences all causing the reader to turn the next page, I finished this book in two sittings so enthralled had I become with the Fowler story.
This book has that rare power to transport the reader to long forgotten memories and experiences of their own life as Mr Fowlers family life unfolds. Many parts of the book made me laugh out loud remembering the fads and home DIY, the eccentric relatives and some made me just reflect upon the poignant intimate family moments. The mother who encouraged her son's dreams of being a writer is both moving and inspiring, small acts of courage and sacrifice by parents hidden amongst the daily chaos of family life and a difficult marriage.
The relationship between father and son is explored with those moments of lost chances and in the latter part of the book simple acts of love, compassion and understanding that hit home hardest. This book should be made into a film - it's the Billy Elliot for writers !

I simply urge you to read this book.

Paperboy is simply one of the best, most charming, delightful, magical, warm, heartbreaking, laugh out loud and at the same time touching books I have read in many a year, if ever. It's a book that gathers you up from the first page and drags you by the hand, like an excited but slightly solemn child, into a past that even though not yours, gives you the feeling of recollection from some forgotten room of once discarded memories.
Ostensibly it is the story of a youngster (Christopher) growing up and discovering the joys, and terrors, of reading in a household where there were precious few books and even less understanding for an imaginative boy! It is also a glimpse into an England fast disappearing, if not altogether gone. An England parts of which we were glad to see the back of, post war austerity, terrible TV entertainment and dreadful food. And some we wish we could recapture, endless childhood summers, the quiet nature of our streets and a sense that big brother wasn't looking over our shoulder every second of every day.
And don't worry if these days are, to you, nothing more than entries in a contemporary history text or cultural blanks due to one being of a foreign disposition, the more obscure or forgotten references are explained in a series of illuminating and hilarious footnotes! It is a book that quite simply makes the past come to life and does so through it's affectionate recollections of the small things, a neighbours rabbit, a defunct chocolate bar and all the little details that are almost always overlooked in more hulking biographies. It also captures effortlessly the strange, almost surreal world; to a growing child; of the adults that inhabited the streets of South London in the 60s.
This is also book contains a warmth that shines through even the most heart wrenching moments. (I defy anybody to remain unmoved by the fate of a simple, slim volume of verse) and it is that sense of warmth that stays with you long after you put the book down and turn on the TV to be confronted with yet another un-reality abomination filling your screen.
So if you want to be entertained, enthralled, moved and made to laugh out loud by reality entertainment then pick up a copy of Paperboy today. You won't regret it.

This is the autobiography of the popular writer Christopher Fowler and like many of his short stories it has the power to make you laugh, make you think and to ultimately recognize elements of yourself within its pages. It details his early life up to when he leaves school, but much more than this it gives the reader a small insight into the workings of his imagination, a glimpse of the creative process. There is a saying that 'the child is the father of the man', meaning that our early influences continue to affect us throughout our lives and it is quite clear that this is true of Mr Fowler and his writing. After reading 'Paperboy' I revisited his short stories and discovered many more layers of meaning to them. I defy anyone to read 'Paperboy' and then the short story 'One Night Out' (in Demonized) and not wipe away a tear, whilst the story 'Black day at Bad Rock' (in Sharper Knives) is virtually a word for word retelling of a formative event in his school days... but you'll have to read that one for yourself! I understand that Mr Fowler is currently writing a follow on to 'Paperboy' and it is this reviewers' wish to see it published soon! In short, if you are a follower of his fiction, you need to read this book. But a word of warning - Christopher Fowler is a professional writer of mysteries who controls his narrative in order to maintain suspense; his autobiography, perhaps unsurprisingly, is therefore as revealing for its omissions as for its contents...!

Paperboy
Demonized (Five Star Paperback)
Sharper Knives