HOMEWORK

Moving atmospheric truthful perceptive and hilariously funny I loved it a piece of our English history the story of a vanished time which feels close at hand but thoroughly gone What a story What a great story TESSA HADLEY In Homework Geoff Dyer reflects on his childhood and what it means to come of age in England in the 60s and 70s in a country shaped by the aftermath of the Second World War but accelerating towards change He was born in Cheltenham in the late fifties the only child of a dinner lady and a planning engineer Raised in a working class area Geoff and his mates found much joy recreating battles with their beloved Tommy guns kicking a beachball around until its untimely death and collecting anything and everything they could find football cards conkers and Action Man figures When Geoff passes his 11 plus exams he gets in to a Cheltenham Grammar School a school which drastically changes the trajectory of his life