Will suggests that he and Rodney write a book and become successful authors. However, they discover they struggle to write down what they remember, a skill they are very good at since they are young. The story focuses more on their lives over a period of sixty years and less on the attempt to write a book. The writing style is clever, but the characters initially seem 2D with forced dialogue. Nonetheless, over time their character arcs grow.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to Hidden Gems Books and author. ( )

Will suggests that he and Rodney write a book and become successful authors. However, they discover they struggle to write down what they remember, a skill they are very good at since they are young. The story focuses more on their lives over a period of sixty years and less on the attempt to write a book. The writing style is clever, but the characters initially seem 2D with forced dialogue. Nonetheless, over time their character arcs grow.


I received a free copy and am leaving a review voluntarily.
Thank you to Hidden Gems Books and author. ( )

The book is about slackers who think they can write a book on their life experiences. It is disjointed & all over the place with brief snippets from their lives haphazardly strung together. Weirdly, they appear to be budding environmentalists too. It is told in a light-hearted manner that is supposed to be humorous with lots of dialogue that goes something like: “Hey Dude, you writing?” ” Yah man. Loads”. I didn’t care for the characters & found them quite unlikeable at times (based on their behavior). So, overall, I found it hard to get through. I took a break from it several weeks ago and haven’t been able to motivate myself to go back to it. You really need to be in the mood for this one!
I won a free copy of this book (thanks to the author & publisher!) and am voluntarily providing an honest review. ( )

This clever and sprightly tale announces right out of the box that it’s going to take a cockeyed look at the world, by opening with Chapter 42. (Douglas Adams fans will understand immediately; others may take a while to catch up.)

On the surface, it’s the tale of a couple of New Zealand slackers in the bad old pre-internet days, trying to figure out how to “make a squillion dollars” without working at it, and coming up with the brilliant idea that the shortest path to riches is to write a best-selling book. Unfortunately, neither of them knows much about writing, cares less about books in general, or is inclined to actually sit down and put words on paper – except for a first page full of fabricated personal histories and a jaw-cracking title – The Protestant Work Ethic: How to Live With It and How to Live Without It.

Colbert’s book, however, gallops along nicely without assistance from the incompleted masterpiece, zig-zagging gaily from past to present and back again with numerous side trips through the adventures of Will, Rodney, and their buddy Bryan as they manage to keep body and soul together by working (variously) as hospital orderly, sheep station roustabout, youth camp advisor, and merchant mariner. From time to time, Will and Rodney check in with one another to see how the book is going, but since neither of them ever actually does any writing, progress is slow. Meanwhile, they continue to “do irrelevance with a passion.”

Underneath, it’s also the story of finding one’s place in a world that is reeling from its own excesses, and about how voices crying out the early warnings of ecological disaster were marginalized, ridiculed, and ignored.

The writing is crisp, the characters are people you’d like to hang out with, and Colbert has a nice turn of phrase for the ridiculous. He wraps it up in a final chapter that’s unexpectedly thoughtful, but which brings the joyride to an emotionally satisfying conclusion. ( )

A quick, fun read with quirky, likable, whimsical, yet somehow true-to-life characters.

Follow Will's journey from boy to manhood, from New Zealand to England to Dubai, all over the world, adventuring, meeting people from all walks of life and generally following alternative ways of life off the beaten tracks. While part of myself envied him this freedom of thought, another part was divided between cringing at his predicaments and laughing out loud at his follies.

The author's creativity and wittyness yet allowed him to slip in tiny bits of wisdom and sound advice without preaching. We definitely need more of this kind of stories. Highly, highly recommended! ( )