Joseph Kenneth Hunt is called 'Ken' partly because his father is called Joe. Had he been called Joe, he'd have been nicknamed 'Little Joey' (which is a baby roo). In fact it turns out that his father's name is Percy Joseph Kelly Hunt and he was called Joe because his real name would also have made his younger days intolerable. When Joe's father was 21 he changed his name to Hunt after his stepfather, but retained the name Kelly. He thought of hyphenating it to Kelly-Hunt but that would have made his later life intolerable. During his life Ken has managed a dodgem track, picked fruit, been a messenger boy, painter, accountant, business consultant and owned a general store. In Australia he has lived in three states and eight towns and cities. He has travelled widely in Europe, Canada, America, China, Russia, Asia and big-time islands like Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Grand Cayman and the Bahamas. He claims the fact that the latter are all tax havens has made no difference whatsoever to his appreciation of them. Mike Taylor has spent about half his life in Australia. He has been a postman, research chemist, patents examiner, science policy adviser, international bureaucrat and energy economist. At one time he was head of the Conservation and Renewable Energy Technology Section of the Department of Primary Industries and Energy in Australia and so proudly introduced himself as 'the chief CRET from DOPIE'. His boss counselled him that he could rise high in 'the circus' (Australian Public Service), provided he curbed his irreverent sense of humour. Fortunately, a strong sense of the ridiculous proved to be no barrier to success in consulting, which resulted in early retirement to his little bit of paradise on the Queensland coast.
'These books are entertaining little reads. This one was fun. It really felt as though an Aussie was writing it, in quite a tongue in cheek style. Seems like their lives are dominated by flies (sounds wonderful!), not putting on airs and graces, and generally being a bit rough and ready. There's a bit about the off licence and Aussie chivalry: "After all, in this age of family sensitivity, no self-respecting Aussie male could pick up thirty dollars worth of booze for himself without a soft drink for the kids and a bar of chocolate for the wife." This book feels like it's being told by this drawled Australian voice, and you can't quite figure out if it's taking the mick or not.' -- Review from goodread.com 'Happy little vegemite! One gem of a book. Compulsory reading for anyone interested in visiting Australia or living there. Don't look like a stunned mullet, read the Guide!' -- Reviewer from Oz 'Great read - better than a travel guide. As an Aussie I can vouch that this book is spot on. It is well written, a humorous but accurate description of Australians. You won't want to put it down. It is so good that it was used as a study text for immigrants learning English in Australia! The only down side is that it isn't longer.' -- Review from 'A customer' 'Funny and Cool book - it's true and it's not! The book remarks all the odd things about Australians, their goods and bads, the interesting things a 'xenophobe' always knows anyway. Most of it is true - sometimes it's even worse, sometimes it's not really as bad. A really funny book and you always have a laugh reading it.' -- Review from www.amerika-forum.de
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
