Review
A Shankill memoir with rare lightness of touch, asserts Verbal.
- Paperboy
- Merlin Publishing
Warchild
Paperboy is a collection of anecdotes about a young boy growing up in West Belfast in the 1970s, delighted to find himself employed by the eccentric ‘Oul’ Mac’ to deliver forty-eight Belfast Telegraphs each night.
Tony Macaulay’s memoirs constitute an affectionate and sensitively drawn portrayal of his childhood in the Upper Shankill. Against a background of violence and division, the naivety of the young protagonist creates a refreshing view of the time and place, its fashions and crazes. Contemporary references abound, from Doctor Who and Ian Paisley to the Bay City Rollers. The author’s lightness of touch avoids heavy-handed treatment of the issues which divided Northern Ireland at the time and never seeks to shock or horrify; instead the memoirs are subtly thought-provoking. Macaulay’s long involvement in peace and reconciliation work is surely an influence on his writing, as no one could fail to fall in love with the Shankill community he presents. At times the hilarious descriptions of the antics of paperboy and his Youth Club friends are reminiscent of Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments. Stereotypes and arbitrary categories are under fire from Paperboy’s dispassionate child logic, and readers should expect whimsical treatment of both the characters in the stories and the issues of the day. Paperboy is an enchantingly written story of a young boy coming to terms with the world around him; a very readable romp that will appeal to nostalgic and curious readers alike.
Verbal