My Own Worst Enemy: Scenes of a Childhood

by Robert Edric

'A small masterpiece' The Spectator

My Own Worst Enemy is a wry and moving memoir of a working-class childhood in 1960s Sheffield, and the relationship between a touchy, tragicomic bully of a father and a son whose acceptance to grammar school puts him on another track entirely.

With a novelist's eye, Robert Edric vividly depicts a now-vanished of working-men's clubs; of tight-knit communities in factory towns; and of a time when a woman's place was in the home. And he brings to colourful life his family, both close and extended – though over all of it hovers the vanity and barely-suppressed anger of his own father.

My Own Worst Enemy is a brilliantly specific portrait both of particular time and place – the Sheffield of half a century ago – and a universal story of childhood and family, and the ways they can go right or wrong.

Genres: Nonfiction

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2022

About the author

Robert Edric (b. 1956) is the pseudonym of Gary Edric Armitage, a British novelist born in Sheffield.

Reviews

[Faye Bertenshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Own Worst Enemy by Robert Edric is a memoir re-telling the story of his life growing up in a working-class family in the Northern city of Sheffield. With each chapter detailing a different stage/experience in his life, we read about him coming home from school and finding his Dad in an obscene looking toupee, his Mum working extra hours to 'keep up with appearances' along with accounts of first family holidays and much more.

The book has such a Northern feel to it - so huge kudos to Edric for pulling this off with his writing style! 👏🏼 Being a Northerner myself, although being born decades apart - there were so many parts of Edric's story that rang true to me - the chippy teas and the stolen pub ashtrays to name a few! 🤭

Whilst reading through this memoir there were many times when I got those Billy Elliot / Brassed Off film kinda vibes! Although as a rule I never rate Non-Fiction books I'm absolutely positive that this will be an extremely enjoyable and nostalgic read for many.

[Tim Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evocative account of a working class upbringing in 1960s Sheffield. I was born only a few years after Edric, in 1960, so this brought back many memories, although my own childhood was less hard-scrabble than the one depicted here, and my own father a far cry from the vain, bullying despot of Edric's memoir. There are chapters on family life, holidays, local characters, pub culture and the move to grammar school, all bookended by the story of the wig. Sorry, toupeé. An enthralling read. 4 stars.

[Susan Corcoran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have over the years read many autobiographies, many of them have been moving and fascinating. My Own Worst Enemy by Robert Edric is remarkable, in that it is all of these things and more, quite frankly it is a masterpiece!

It brings alive a world many of us have lived in, an era many grew up during, of working men’s clubs. Where the women stayed at home, the excepted norm being that their role was to look after the children and ensure men returning from work, had a meal and some moments of peace. A world of social deprivation and families living on large sprawling council estates. The world of working class families who walked a tightrope between survival and poverty. It is a gritty tale, powerful and utterly captivating.

I found it a fascinating and moving book, because I was born to a working class family, my dad for the first years of my life was the bread winner, my mother stayed at home. But this was a life lived on the apex of change, my mother going out to work when I eventually went to school. But much of what he talks about in My Own Worst Enemy resonated with me, because it was part of my life, even if that world was beginning to wain. He brings to life a period of time my father would have known better than me, the males of the house having to be brought back from the pub, after the women had spend the morning preparing lunch for all. He brings this and more to life with a sense of pathos, for unlike me, his world as a child was lived under the shadow of a petty, controlling, vain father, whose power over his family, was used to rule and control them. It is not all gritty story telling, of pain, there is humor too, moments when away from the drudgery of normal life, the family seemed happier, more care free and it gives his story, not just a sense of balance, but a hopefulness that enabled him to survive his father’s crippling influence.

It is painfully forthright and that is why it resonated so much to me, his honesty around the complex world he lived in is not hidden behind a pointless romanticism of working class life in the 50s and 60s, but the reality of their world. Mothers scraping around to pay bills, feed families on a pennies left over, while dads worked long hours, leaving the needs of the family dynamic to their wives. The way he talks about a father that enjoyed his control over his family, reveling in his power to intimidate is deeply affecting, the often calm tone of his writing, making the life he, his siblings and his mother lived seem all the more compelling. My father was a good man, he cherished his family, he supported us and encouraged us, we were loved and lucky, sheltered from the day to day struggle to feed a family. We were allowed to be children, free from fear and so Robert Edric’s story of his childhood made me realize how lucky I was.

Written as a series of memories, he gives the reader a insight into a world that for many is now resigned to a place in history, or so we like to think. The reality is it is still there in some form and his words are not just about his life, but of all that lived on those estates with him. His escape route was acceptance into Grammar school, but the world he grew up shaped him and he brings it to life in all its brilliant complexity and showed that there is a route to a better life out there for even those who have so little.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Edric was born in 1956. This is his memoir of a working class childhood in Sheffield in the 1960s, where he lived with his mother, father, younger sister and brother.
I enjoyed the details of the time he was growing up. I was born in 1969, so missed most of the 1960s and am unfamiliar with how things were back then. He mentions his household sharing three outdoor toilets with a dozen houses! I recall my grandparents having outside toilets, but contained in their own garden and just for their use. I didn’t know shared outside loos was even a thing!
The Second World War was still fresh in people’s minds when Robert was growing up and he writes about an air-raid shelter near his school. By my childhood, these were further back in history but things like ashtrays, Green Shield stamps and collecting cards from packets of tea still prevailed into the 1970s and Robert’s memories triggered some of my own.
Each chapter deals with a theme, a particular moment or topic from his childhood. We read about his father’s wig (toupee!), moving house, various family gatherings, getting into Grammar School, doing a paper round, trips to the cinema, the local working men’s club and so on. These are varying lengths, but easy to read and usually interesting. (I wasn’t so keen on the chapter about fishing.)
I enjoyed reading this, but I think you’d love it even more if you’re from Sheffield or brought up in the 1960s. I’m sure plenty of this book will resonate with you and bring back lots of memories.

[Lyn Failes · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌟🌟🌟🌟
#bookreview #booktour
#myownworstenemy

#robertedric documents the story of his youth in this descriptive and well written book.
He explains the details of his youth, growing up with family issues and the trials of a young boy finding his place in life. He particularly describes the “old school” was of past day where the men went to their work and their working mens clubs and the women stayed at home, doing their chores and looking after the family.
I love reading about peoples lives and this book did not disappoint. A fabulous piece of nostalgia 😊.
Available in hardback, paperback and on your kindle. Link in bio

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[Emma Minazza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! Each chapter is a different stage in Robert's life from coming back from school one day to find his dad has a wig (and not meant to notice it) to getting a paper round, first job, first time fishing, first pub outing, first holidays and trips to the chip shop etc

It made me smile in certain parts with the descriptions of curry sauce being classed as 'foreign food' as it wasn't their norm and describing his first time fishing, also bringing back memories of my own experiences!

It also brought back memories of holidays myself in Skegness and Mablethorpe in chalets and the same chip shop trips just as he describes them.

Very enjoyable read, would recommend this book!

[Mick Meyers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didn't expect this to be as good as it was.really engrossed in the story.the most horribalist person being the father,never has such an odious character appeared in all his foibles.i was really glad for Robert to get out,and not too soon.the pen is mightier than the sword and revenge is a dessert better served up cold.in my minds eye I couldn't help but think of Bryan glovers p.e teacher Mr sugden in the film kes,would be a good measure as the father.

[Malcolm Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this!
being of a certain age it evoked many memories, some I had forgotten.

Robert grew up in Sheffield in the 60's and he captures the age perfectly; however the book is dominated by the effect his bullying father had on him & the whole family.

A very enjoyable and evocative memoir.

[Keith Horsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memoir of growing up in South Yorkshire in early 60s. As a working class lad growing up in West Yorkshire in the same period it did resonate with me. What did disappoint me was his vilification of his father, with no attempt to contextualise.

[Liz Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really well written book; my childhood was very different from Robert Edric's, but as we are much the same age, it was at a similar time. There was so much in there that was nostalgic for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning sense of time and place.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was disappointed. It reads as a documented childhood and felt a bit distanced.

[Sophie Jaye · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book suggested by my book club, wish I DNF as many others did. The use of Seldom in the same 2 sentences & then throughout drove me insane.

[Lynn B · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my favourite memoirs ive read

[Karen Kingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely read memoirs but this is set in Sheffield, my home for the first 18 years of my life (nearly two decades later than Robert’s time there).

I work for a social mobility charity and this book looks at how going to Grammar school was considered important to escape being a working class person in the future.

Some of the chapters are very dark whilst others are much more light hearted. This book reminded me of my own childhood – older relatives smoking, paper rounds, primary school with bottles of milk for break time, local corner shops etc.

Robert shares many stories about his dad – the heavy drinking, his chauvanistic attitude at home, the toupee (he had a very different childhood to me). I would love to know how their relationship progressed after Robert went to University but this is where the book ends.

I felt sorry for Robert’s mum, a full time working mum trying to look after the family finances whilst dad spent his evenings drinking his wages away. An fascinating read, looking at a working class family in an industrial city and a social history of the time.