This book deserves more recognition than it appears to have received to date. Adamson writes evocatively of growing up in Sydney in the years following the Second World War, and effectively describes his descent into criminality during his teenage years. He descriptions of life whilst incarcerated are quite affecting, and the chapter dealing with his being raped whilst in gaol is quite harrowing. The story ends around 1970, leaving one wondering whether a further volume of autobiography will be
This book deserves more recognition than it appears to have received to date. Adamson writes evocatively of growing up in Sydney in the years following the Second World War, and effectively describes his descent into criminality during his teenage years. He descriptions of life whilst incarcerated are quite affecting, and the chapter dealing with his being raped whilst in gaol is quite harrowing. The story ends around 1970, leaving one wondering whether a further volume of autobiography will be forthcoming in due course. The fact that Adamson is now a successful poet and university academic is a tribute to his tenacity, and his determination to overcome the effects of his dysfunctional background when growing up in Sydney. Well worth reading.
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