Philip Whiteland

This is the first of Philip Whiteland's 'nostalgedy' collections that I've read and it took me down memory lane and no mistake.  Light hearted, well observed and funny.  What's not to like?

A Kick at the Pantry Door

Amazon .com A Kick at the Pantry Door

My review - 

This is a series of reminiscences, linked together as though it’s a menu. This relates to the author’s mother’s expression, when asked what was for dinner, ‘A kick at the pantry door.’ The author is a classic raconteur and his observational wit makes these stories both accurate an amusing. We hear about his school days, about his paper-round and his first job. I remember many of the things he talks about and for those much younger, it’s a lesson in what life was like before all the technology we’re now used to.

Throughout the book, the stories come closer to the present day and we find the author and his wife in a notoriously slow restaurant and on a cruise ship holiday. The only beef for me was that there was a chapter of another book at the end, something I never read and find unnecessary. There are already links to the author’s other books and it always smacks of padding.

If you’re old enough (late 50s and 60s should see you nodding and smiling here) you’ll find a lot of memories rekindled. If you’re not, read this and have a laugh finding out how your parents lived!