Although my new memoir - Summer of '77 - will not be published until October 27th on Kindle, a select group of beta readers have had access to the pre-publication version.
Three of them have already finished the book and posted their reviews on Goodreads. If you are a Goodreads member you can read the originals here:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48126395-summer-of-77
Otherwise, you can read copies of the reviews below.
Three of them have already finished the book and posted their reviews on Goodreads. If you are a Goodreads member you can read the originals here:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48126395-summer-of-77
Otherwise, you can read copies of the reviews below.
I enjoyed it so much!
This was a very enjoyable memoir. Well-presented and polished, this is written from letters etc. the author has kept from his time working a summer season in Ibiza when he was 21. I love memoirs written from diaries and letters. Good to see actual extracts from the letters included here, also pictures of memorabilia of his trip, eg. a ferry ticket.
He says, the summer that changed his life. Intriguing. And what followed was certainly honest and revealing.
After leaving school Robert Fear worked in a bank. He'd holidayed in Ibiza before and looked forward to going back there. He wanted to go abroad for six months. This trip was in 1977, a few years before his 1981 trip covered in his earlier book, ‘Fred's Diary 1981: Travels in Asia’. I do like diary format and enjoyed his other travel book. But I know some don't enjoy that format as much. I like the way this is written and it will perhaps have wider appeal. I can see how his writing has matured since his other book. I think it is his best book yet.
I started this straight away, even though I was 70% of the way through a true crime book. I found it interesting, and quick, easy reading.
I liked the links to YouTube-eg. the Boogie Nights track (and others). Atmosphere. Sort of like a book soundtrack. Being a musician, it really added to it for me. Some World News at the time is included, via a letter from his father.
Another trip of a lifetime, an important time in his life, not just a short holiday, but a whole season in these parts. Certainly varied adventures! Lots of things happen in these few months. Not repetitive at all.
A fun book. Many people I know have worked abroad for a summer season, or a year. At holiday resorts, or nannying. A scary experience for me, so not one I would have had the courage to do. Fair play to those who do, and when they write of their experiences, to let us have a nosy-it can be very entertaining!
I like the way this is written. It's been very easy reading. Entertaining and enjoyable.
I read many selling up and moving abroad memoirs. This is a little bit different for a change. A young man, widening his travel, working a season in Spain. You would imagine work, play, sleep, and that it would be repetitive. It's not. It’s an honest, revealing, and thoroughly entertaining account of a memorable time in the author's life.
This was a very enjoyable memoir. Well-presented and polished, this is written from letters etc. the author has kept from his time working a summer season in Ibiza when he was 21. I love memoirs written from diaries and letters. Good to see actual extracts from the letters included here, also pictures of memorabilia of his trip, eg. a ferry ticket.
He says, the summer that changed his life. Intriguing. And what followed was certainly honest and revealing.
After leaving school Robert Fear worked in a bank. He'd holidayed in Ibiza before and looked forward to going back there. He wanted to go abroad for six months. This trip was in 1977, a few years before his 1981 trip covered in his earlier book, ‘Fred's Diary 1981: Travels in Asia’. I do like diary format and enjoyed his other travel book. But I know some don't enjoy that format as much. I like the way this is written and it will perhaps have wider appeal. I can see how his writing has matured since his other book. I think it is his best book yet.
I started this straight away, even though I was 70% of the way through a true crime book. I found it interesting, and quick, easy reading.
I liked the links to YouTube-eg. the Boogie Nights track (and others). Atmosphere. Sort of like a book soundtrack. Being a musician, it really added to it for me. Some World News at the time is included, via a letter from his father.
Another trip of a lifetime, an important time in his life, not just a short holiday, but a whole season in these parts. Certainly varied adventures! Lots of things happen in these few months. Not repetitive at all.
A fun book. Many people I know have worked abroad for a summer season, or a year. At holiday resorts, or nannying. A scary experience for me, so not one I would have had the courage to do. Fair play to those who do, and when they write of their experiences, to let us have a nosy-it can be very entertaining!
I like the way this is written. It's been very easy reading. Entertaining and enjoyable.
I read many selling up and moving abroad memoirs. This is a little bit different for a change. A young man, widening his travel, working a season in Spain. You would imagine work, play, sleep, and that it would be repetitive. It's not. It’s an honest, revealing, and thoroughly entertaining account of a memorable time in the author's life.
Fred decided to work for a year before going to college and got a job at a bank but the pay was so good he ended up working there for 3 yrs. Back in the good ole days before tourism became such big business Fred and some of his mates went to Es Cana, Ibiza for a summer holiday. Of course they all loved it there and made a pact to return the next year. In '77 when Fred went back before his friends he realized that he would have to get a job and was fortunate enough to work as a laborer on a construction site--with a tan and muscles with his blond hair he was a "chick" magnet. This book is written so you feel like you are there among friends. I am amazed that Fred is still alive and would think that his liver is pickled. One thing he realized is going on vacation for 2 weeks is nothing like going when you have to work to live there. I love the letters from home that he adds and the one from his dad with current events was very interesting. This is a great book that will make young ones wish they were around back in an easier time. I highly recommend this book.
What a terrific read this is. Written retrospectively about the time he spent in Es Cana, Ibiza in 1977. How many of us have gone on holiday and thought ‘I’d love to live here ‘or ‘I must come back here’? Well, as a young, adventurous man Fred did just that. He had to find accommodation and of course find work. He worked as a labourer on a building site and then as a waiter in a bar. Neither of these were easy jobs at all. It certainly wasn’t all fun in the sun although there was definitely a fair bit of fun to be had.
Fortunately the author had kept a diary of his time there as well as the many letters he received from family and friends at home. It was great to see these incorporated into the story as well as some excellent photos of Fred as a handsome young man. No wonder the girls liked him! As well as that there are links to music and other relevant information from that time. Excellent stuff.
It’s well written, in a diary form and it’s also very honest and entertaining. It was a life changing thing to do as it gave him the urge to travel the world and seek further adventures. Highly recommended.
Fortunately the author had kept a diary of his time there as well as the many letters he received from family and friends at home. It was great to see these incorporated into the story as well as some excellent photos of Fred as a handsome young man. No wonder the girls liked him! As well as that there are links to music and other relevant information from that time. Excellent stuff.
It’s well written, in a diary form and it’s also very honest and entertaining. It was a life changing thing to do as it gave him the urge to travel the world and seek further adventures. Highly recommended.
PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY HERE:
getbook.at/Summerof77
getbook.at/Summerof77
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