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The Thing Is
Andrew Carter is a man in his thirties with a wife and child, greying hair and a tendency to go to bed before 10pm. His second book, THE THING IS, is a collection of charming and hilarious tales about all that went on before. From a childhood where he cheated in chess tournaments and tough kids stole his SNES games, he grows into an adolescence including dalliances with drink and drugs, attempts at punk rock stardom and an overwhelming desire to look cool in front of girls. Wanderlust takes him across the globe where there’s a spot of bother in Bolivia, Australia in a battered van, a police chase in the Greek mountains and a stint as a minor celebrity in Hong Kong. There are late nights and fistfights, Sunday league struggles, call centre hell, a campus love story and a whole lot more. Like a perfect conversation with your pals in the pub, you’ll feel fuzzy with nostalgia, wince in recognition and laugh out loud.
280 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2018
5 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Carter
2 books26 followersAndrew Carter is an author from Leeds, UK.
His second book, The Thing Is, a hilarious collection of anecdotal tales, is out now published by Proverse.
Andrew has a day job as a probation officer and lives with his wife and young son in Leeds.
For regular blogs and book excerpts, please visit his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/andrewcarter...
His second book, The Thing Is, a hilarious collection of anecdotal tales, is out now published by Proverse.
Andrew has a day job as a probation officer and lives with his wife and young son in Leeds.
For regular blogs and book excerpts, please visit his Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/andrewcarter...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 2, 2019
Andy sent me a copy of his second book, The Thing Is, which is a collection of tales charting his life from his childhood in Leeds, through to his University days in Lancaster and beyond, travelling in Europe, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. As Andy travels with his friends trying to fill the strange void between university and working life, he gets into drunken scrapes, tries his hand at working in a call centre and moves to China to teach English. Thank you so much for sharing your story with me Andy. You brought back (some not altogether pleasant!) memories of dodgy school discos and even dodgier summer jobs!
March 9, 2019
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.
If you’ve stuck around with this blog for a while now, you’ll know how much I love memoirs, especially funny ones. Give me an entire novel about someone’s hijinks and I will eat it up AND ask for more. That’s why when Andrew asked me if I’d read and review his book, I was immediately sold. Here’s a book that sounded like it was right up my alley!
The Thing Is has two defined sections. In the first half, we get to hear anecdotal stories about Andrew’s childhood, a majority of which he seems to have spent high. You can already imagine the kind of funny antics he might have got upto back then.
About halfway through the book, he writes about his travels to Australia, South America, Thailand, and more, where he once again drinks a lot and gets up to shenanigans. Some of these–like stealing champagne from a warehouse and getting caught–were downright funny, while some, I didn’t enjoy as much.
The Thing Is is well-written, funny, and the first half will make you nostalgic about your own childhood. One of my problems with the book was all the names I had to remember–this dude had quite a lot of friends as a kid! And the other is that there are quite a LOT of stories and it can get tiring as you read through them all. Some I didn’t find as funny as I did the rest, but that’s how life is.
The Thing Is is a memoir with anecdotal chapters that range from funny to ones that will draw indulgent smiles from the reader. Read it if you like childhood hijinks, travelogues, and funny anecdotes.
If you’ve stuck around with this blog for a while now, you’ll know how much I love memoirs, especially funny ones. Give me an entire novel about someone’s hijinks and I will eat it up AND ask for more. That’s why when Andrew asked me if I’d read and review his book, I was immediately sold. Here’s a book that sounded like it was right up my alley!
The Thing Is has two defined sections. In the first half, we get to hear anecdotal stories about Andrew’s childhood, a majority of which he seems to have spent high. You can already imagine the kind of funny antics he might have got upto back then.
About halfway through the book, he writes about his travels to Australia, South America, Thailand, and more, where he once again drinks a lot and gets up to shenanigans. Some of these–like stealing champagne from a warehouse and getting caught–were downright funny, while some, I didn’t enjoy as much.
The Thing Is is well-written, funny, and the first half will make you nostalgic about your own childhood. One of my problems with the book was all the names I had to remember–this dude had quite a lot of friends as a kid! And the other is that there are quite a LOT of stories and it can get tiring as you read through them all. Some I didn’t find as funny as I did the rest, but that’s how life is.
The Thing Is is a memoir with anecdotal chapters that range from funny to ones that will draw indulgent smiles from the reader. Read it if you like childhood hijinks, travelogues, and funny anecdotes.
July 21, 2019
Amusing and heartwarming, a really good insight into one man's life.
February 24, 2019
Fantastic
Really enjoyed it, really funny and brilliantly written, would definitely recommend it, brought back lots of childhood memories and friendships
Really enjoyed it, really funny and brilliantly written, would definitely recommend it, brought back lots of childhood memories and friendships
January 15, 2019
I will be honest from the outset and say that I believe this was written more with the male audience in mind.
This is a memoir about a lad from Leeds who eventually ends up working on the other side of the world. However, after an a promising prologue, highlighting that he was travelling with a group of friends, I was under the impression that this would be a travel memoir, filled with hilarious stories about sticky situations he got himself into and the wonderful places he visited.
For the first half of the book we find out more about Andrew's background, his family, where he grew up and the fact that he seemed to have a great love for getting high as a teenager. As we move into his college year, this progresses to not only drug taking but also alcohol and a dislike for studies. As I say, I believe that men will probably enjoy this story line more, not because they take drugs or drink too much but because it is a story of male high jinx.
Half way through the book he then heads off on his travels with a few friends and we get to hear about how to get drunk in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Bali and then South America before settling down and finding a girlfriend.
While I can't say I loved it, I do believe that others probably would really enjoy it.
This is a memoir about a lad from Leeds who eventually ends up working on the other side of the world. However, after an a promising prologue, highlighting that he was travelling with a group of friends, I was under the impression that this would be a travel memoir, filled with hilarious stories about sticky situations he got himself into and the wonderful places he visited.
For the first half of the book we find out more about Andrew's background, his family, where he grew up and the fact that he seemed to have a great love for getting high as a teenager. As we move into his college year, this progresses to not only drug taking but also alcohol and a dislike for studies. As I say, I believe that men will probably enjoy this story line more, not because they take drugs or drink too much but because it is a story of male high jinx.
Half way through the book he then heads off on his travels with a few friends and we get to hear about how to get drunk in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Bali and then South America before settling down and finding a girlfriend.
While I can't say I loved it, I do believe that others probably would really enjoy it.
April 15, 2019
This is anecdotal tales from the author growing up into adult hood. From bullies to stealing alcohol, this book has it all. Enjoy reading about his many travels and mishaps along the way. There is late night fights, bogus jobs, night club kisses and a girlfriend or two.
The Thing is....I really liked this book. I found it very much a laugh out loud type of book and although sometimes I did not always understand the lingo (I am an Aussie chick), I found the writing witting and at time hilarious. If you are after a light hearted funny read I think you will enjoy the book.
My thanks to the author for giving me a copy of the book in exchange for my review.
The Thing is....I really liked this book. I found it very much a laugh out loud type of book and although sometimes I did not always understand the lingo (I am an Aussie chick), I found the writing witting and at time hilarious. If you are after a light hearted funny read I think you will enjoy the book.
My thanks to the author for giving me a copy of the book in exchange for my review.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews