Tony Hawks

1. Round Ireland With a Fridge by Tony Hawks. Englishman Hawks accepts a bet from a friend that he can't hitchhike all the way around Ireland while accompanied by a smallish fridge on a handcart. That's the whole premise, and it works out well for Hawks. The bet took place in 1997, so there's very little computer or cell phone interference. Instead, his journey was made tremendously easier by the fact that he was a well-known comedian, which landed him an interview on an Irish national radio show more show the very first day, a show that it seemed half the country listened to daily, and by throwing out a "be nice to him if you see him" message. With repeated on-air interviews, Hawks was able to secure rides, free lodging and meals all over the country. He did avoid the majority of Northern Ireland, just dipping into the area at one point.
For me, the highlight of the book was the excitement of the people who recognized this guy with a fridge and bent over backwards to assist him. The people, whether individually or in groups, were so ready to help. On the flip side, I was pretty familiar with English comedians of this period and I'd never heard of Hawks before, even though he starts his journey just after having performed for an audience that included Prince Charles. So, I thought the book would be funny but it was just mildly amusing throughout, and I found the times when he tried to make people laugh to be pretty lame. This is a nice read to get a look at the Irish people of that decade. show less

It started out as a bar bet. Tony Hawks, and his buddy, Arthur, were watching a football/soccer match between England and Moldova. Somehow, by the end of the game, Hawks had bet that he could beat all 11 of the Moldovan football players at tennis.

The rest of the book is the story of Hawks' quest to win the bet. He had lots of obstacles to overcome, starting with getting a visa to visit Moldova. Since Moldova issues visas only to people who have been invited by a citizen, Hawks had to find a show more citizen to extend an invitation to him. He would cross one hurdle only to find another one in his path. He spent most of his time in Moldova trying to make contact with team officials and/or the players themselves. At the time of his visit, Moldova had been an independent nation for only half a dozen years, and there were deficiencies in its infrastructure. No task, even a phone call, was simple. The Moldovan acquaintances he accumulated during his visit were pessimistic that he would succeed in his quest, yet they went to great lengths to help him.

This would have been a dull book if it had been nothing more than a description of 11 tennis matches. However, much of the book is filled with Hawks' experiences with his translator and his host family. He spent most of his time in Moldova with at least one of these five people, and it's through their conversations and shared experiences that he (and we) glimpse what life is like for the average Moldovan. Hawks' skills as a comedian are well suited for observing a different culture. Hawks finds humor in situations, but not at the expense of others.

I don't have any more desire to visit Moldova after reading this book than I did before I read it, but I do have an appreciation for the Moldovan people, and I hope that their economic condition has improved in the decade since Hawks' visit. show less

Tony Hawks enjoys challenges. He has written pop songs, taken entire football teams at tennis and dragged a small fridge around Ireland. But these have been short transitory affairs. This next challenge is much bigger, life changing and permanent. Having been a town dweller all his life, he has taken the bold step of moving to the country; not just the outskirts of London, but far, far west into the wilds of the Devon countryside.

Coming with him is his partner Fran. They first met at the show more Samuel Johnson book awards presentation, having been introduced by the Hislop’s, and have been together ever since. She is half Filipino, and it was whilst on holiday there that he woke in the middle of the night with this desire to move out of the city. Fran though he was just dreaming; but in the morning the urge was stronger. Hawks wanted to have neighbours he spoke to and food to grow so he could live more ethically and not just be a consumer of stuff. This wasn’t to be a second home, nor an idyllic chocolate box cottage. Instead they chose a community close to Dartmoor that functioned as a village should do. The estate agent couldn’t actually believe that they wanted to live there. Straight after viewing the property, they signed up to an allotment; somehow it felt right.

Thankfully they get the house. Hawks throws himself into village life, hoping that enthusiasm will hide the lack of experience and knowledge that need for almost all rural activities. He is no Alan Titchmarsh, as his first attempts at growing vegetables end in the total devastation of the crops. They undertake an organic gardening course in the hope of being able to keep the plants alive; but embracing the green way of life leads to painful (for him) and hilarious (for us) consequences. Thankfully his new neighbours are well versed in all things practical, and Ken in particular, digs Tony out of the mire many times. He ends up as chairman of the village hall committee and is subject to the meetings about the location of the recycling bins. He has a go at zumba too; but only the once... The roads in Devon are very different to London, even though there are 10,000 miles of them, they are not much wider than a car. He has stare offs with the locals to see who will back down, and several scares when driving a tractor in a rally.

A little while after they move down, they find out that Fran is expecting. This means that he might just have time to squeeze in a tiny solo adventure to raise money for a Moldavian charity that he supports. Not wanting to make things easy for himself, he is aiming to cycle from the north Devon coast to the channel; hard enough you’d think as it is pretty hilly there, but he is intending on doing it with a small pig called Titch. Daft, but then you wouldn’t expect anything less from Hawks.

This is another great book from him. The writing style is chatty as you would expect, and very very funny as his other books have been, so much so that I had to put the book down and wipe the tears away a few times. I love his enthusiasm too; he is willing to give anything a go too, and his recollection of these events make for entertaining and amusing reading. show less

Tony Hawks has made a decent writing career out of making unusual bets and then winning them. From "Round Ireland with a Fridge" to "Playing the Moldovans at Tennis" and "One hit Wonderland", Hawks is scooting around the world, getting up to all sorts of hijinks. At least, that would be good but I fear Hawks started to run out of steam by "One Hit Wonderland".

As someone who bought a copy of Morris Minor and the Major's "Stutter Rap" back in the day, I looked forward to reading of Hawk's show more return to the charts but as the book dragged on I began to fear that he would lose his bet. Eventually, Norman Wisdom comes to the rescue and while I don't consider Wisdom funny (although Hawks seems to find Wisdom deliberately tripping over air stewardesses hilarious), Hawks gets his second hit.

As a Tony Hawks fan, read this if you are a completest but please do not read his follow-up "Piano in the Pyrenees"; you have better things to do than read it, trust me. show less